


Party's Over

by KingPepperony



Category: Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: Canon Divergence - Iron Man 2, F/M, Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-01-31
Packaged: 2021-02-25 15:55:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 41,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22498666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KingPepperony/pseuds/KingPepperony
Summary: What would have happened if Pepper had broken up the fight between Rhodey and Tony at his birthday party instead of leaving them to duke it out? (Iron Man 2, A/U Movie-verse)
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Comments: 5
Kudos: 43





	1. Chapter 1

"Give me a phat beat to beat my buddy's ass to." And that was how on the night of his birthday, the destruction of Tony's Malibu mansion began. Pepper had seen Tony do a lot of stupid things in the many years as his PA but fighting his best friend in his Iron Man suit may have been the stupidest thing so far. God, maybe she should have said yes to Venice back when he had asked her on the plane. Then he wouldn't be here right now to ruin his house and possibly his image.

All of the party-goers were now outside and had their phones out, snapping pictures and taking video of the scene unfolding before them. Not that she blamed them. A person didn't see something like this everyday. A silent snarl formed on her lips. She was not looking forward to the damage control she would be forced to do tomorrow. She could see it now. "Iron Man on a Drunken Rampage." She only barely resisted stomping her foot in anger. Damn you, Tony Stark.

That was when her eyes landed on the beautiful woman who was the focus of some of her anger scurrying over in her direction. The snarl came back. "Natalie!"

The woman hurried over to her. Pepper couldn't help but roll her eyes at the dress she was wearing. Was it leopard print? Cheetah print? Screw it. It didn't matter. Whatever kind of print it was, it was tacky. She didn't even know why she was so mad at Natalie. She wasn't the one currently destroying Tony's house. Okay, that was a lie. She knew exactly why she was upset with her but she just didn't want to admit it to herself just yet. "Miss Potts..."

The completely innocent way she said her name unleashed the frustration she was currently feeling. "Oh, don't you, 'Miss Potts,' me! I'm on to you. You know what? Ever since you you came here.." A shriek of panic escaped her lips when ceiling above her crumbled, spilling Tony Stark and Colonel James Rhodes both in suits onto the floor not far from where she was standing. In a beat, they were both back on their feet, throwing punches at each other.

"Pepper..." Before she knew what was happening, Happy had her by the arm and was practically yanking her off her feet, dragging her away from the fight. "We gotta get you outta here."

But instead of going with her first instinct to flee the scene, Pepper Potts yanked her arm away from his desperate grasp. The fear she had been feeling when the ceiling fell in was turning into something else. Rage. She had no idea what had gotten into Tony lately but with the crazy stunt he pulled in Monaco and now this...suit or not, she was going to kick his reckless ass.

"Anthony Edward Stark!" Pepper snarled, shoving Rhodey aside as she strode toward her former boss, not at all intimidated by the two armored men engaged in battle in front of her. She was sure her face was as red as her hair. Natalie had disappeared. It was probably for the best. At the moment with her anger flaring, she was sure she probably would have told her where to go and how to get there.

Rhodey grabbed her arm, trying to hold her back. "Pepper, I wouldn't..."

Pepper glared at Tony's best friend. Her eyes dropped to where he had a grip on her arm and then back up into his face, hidden behind a mask. "Don't, Colonel Rhodes. Just don't."

The way she said his name made him drop her arm. She must have came off as intimidating because Rhodes put his armored hands up in surrender, stepping away from Tony as the drunk man stumbled to find his feet once again. Maybe under different circumstances she would have giggled at the sight of the"War Machine" retreating at the sight of a pissed off Pepper Potts but not today.

Tony put up his face mask to meet her eyes, and to her surprise he was giving her one of his signature one-hundred watt classic Stark smiles as if nothing was out of the ordinary. As if he hadn't just been fucking destroying his house in front of hundreds of guests. "Hey Pep, you might wanna move to the side a bit. I'm not done beating Rhodey's ass. The song's not over. And I did pay the DJ for another hour. Gotta get my money's worth." And then he winked at her. Or tried to. He was very drunk. It was more of a blink than a wink.

Pepper frowned and narrowed her eyes further. He was trying to be cute. "Oh, you are done. You are so far done it's not even funny." She may not be his PA anymore but she knew how to handle him. "Happy, go clear the property. Why don't you help him, Rhodes, and then get out of here. Party's over." After barking orders over her shoulder and not waiting for a reply, she linked her arm with Tony's and forced him to move.

That's when he tried his other classic Stark move on her. His puppy dog eyes. Normally, they would have caused her insides to turn to jelly, and she would be forced to down push down all of the inappropriate feelings that surfaced because of them. He had the most beautiful brown eyes. And his lashes? God. They did crazy things to her self control. But not tonight. She was beyond done with him. He could have been standing in front of her naked, asking her to go to town on him and it wouldn't have phased her at this point.

"Party's not over," Tony insisted as Pepper dragged him toward his workshop. "Hey. Hey. Hey. Slow down there, Potts." Even as he said the words, he must not have been resisting too much because Pepper didn't have a hard time pulling him along. Being a man, he was normally stronger than her. But with the suit, he could have easily gotten away from her if he chose but he allowed her to lead him down the stairs. "I know you are desperate to get me alone but relax, we've got time." And then when she looked over at him he wagged his eyebrows at her. "Is this the part when you give me my birthday present?"

Oh God. He actually had the gall to flirt with her after the stunt he just pulled. He may be a cocky son-of-a-bitch but this was pushing it. Even for him. Birthday boy or not, she wanted to smack the ever-living shit out of him. "Mr. Stark, it would be in your best interest to shut your mouth and keep it shut until further notice."

"Yes, dear," Tony chuckled.

Pepper barely resisted smacking him. She was not in the mood for his banter. Once inside the workshop she finally released him. Tony removed his helmet, chucking it across the room as if it wasn't a sensitive piece of equipment and merely a piece of trash. He must have been aiming for the couch but missed. It bounced and rolled across the floor, coming to rest under one of his many cars. Dum-E went to retrieve it. Pepper stopped in front of Tony, trying to figure out what the hell angle he was playing as she tried her hardest to remember to stay calm. She was so mad at him. She couldn't remember a time she was more angry. Part of her wanted to tell Jarvis to open the door so she could leave. A normal person would have left, would have just walked away and left him to handle this shitshow he called a life by himself but she just couldn't do it. If she was being honest with herself, she didn't want to do it. A lump formed in her throat, making it difficult for her to swallow. Tony was a huge part of her life. Who was she kidding? He was her life. She couldn't remember a time when her entire world didn't revolve around him. She didn't stay with him because she loved her job. Not saying she didn't love her job. She really did. But she stayed all of this time through all of the insanity that would have made a normally sane person crazy because she loved Tony. The sudden realization was like a slap to her face. She had finally admitted it to herself. She was in love with Tony Stark.

Tony had been watching her closely from his place perched on the edge of his desk. He ran a hand through his now matted down hair, ruffling it until it was partially standing up. He cocked his head to one side, studying her expression with a playful curiosity. "You know, the freckles on your face really stand out when you are mad." When he reached out to playfully touch her nose, she swatted his gloved hand away. His grin only widened at her rejection. "I wonder if they are like this on the rest of your body. Care to find out?"

Maddening. This man was completely and utterly maddening. Damn him for making her want him. Damn him for easily flirting with anything with a pulse and not seeing that he was messing with her feelings by his careless actions. He was so clueless. Why had she let herself fall for him in the first place? It was so stupid of her. The tightness in her throat forced her to turn from him and stalk away. She would not let him see her cry, not over him.

"Pep, don't walk away. Come on, Pepper."

Pepper ignored Tony's pleas even as he followed closely at her heels like a little lost puppy. Not acknowledging him was the only way to pull herself back together and become the Pepper Potts she needed to be in order to get things done. No more falling to pieces around Tony Stark. At least not for the rest of the night. She could at least make that promise to herself. "Jarvis?"

"Yes, Miss Potts?" Tony's AI replied.

"Get him out of the suit."

"But I don't want out of the suit," Tony whined. Pepper was almost positive he was sticking out his bottom lip in a pout . "I'm not done having fun. I didn't even get to eat my cake. I'm Iron Man, and it's my birthday. Maybe I'll go out for a flight. It would be a nice way to end the night." Oh, hell no. He wasn't going to kill himself by trying to fly drunk in that thing. Not on her watch. That was it. Pepper spun on her heels and grabbed him by an ear, dragging him toward the dismantling station. "Ow. Ow. Ow. Potts, what's gotten into you? Ow."

Pepper released his ear and shoved him forward onto it. "Jarvis, Mr. Stark is drunk and he needs to get out of the suit before he kills himself or someone else. He is not leaving this room until he is out of his armor. Is that understood?

"Yes, Miss Potts. I agree with your assessment."

"Hey, whose side are you on anyway, Jarv?" Tony rubbed absentmindedly at his ear as his suit was removed. "Pep. Pep. Pepper." Tony called after her as she made her way over to the couch to sit down, heels clicking across the floor as she retreated. Her feet were killing her. These were definitely not her most comfortable shoes. In her current mood, she was tempted to just toss them in the trash but settled for removing them. "Hey, are you not talking to me? Hey, Jarvis, she isn't talking to me. Why aren't you talking to me? Are you mad?"

Pepper set her heels next to her and put her head in her hands. He was infuriating. She wanted to stab him with her stilettos and give him a hug at the same time. Why did she love him again? There wasn't time for her to ponder it for long before exhaustion overcame her and she fell asleep. She must have only dozed off for a moment or two because she woke to a shout of pain from Tony. Her eyes snapped open, and she found him sprawled out on the floor. Pepper was on her feet in a beat, rushing over to his side. At least he was out of the suit.

"Are you okay?" She asked as she helped his drunk ass off the floor.

"Just tripped. I'm fine. It's fine." But from the way he leaned into her to try and steady himself, he wasn't so fine.

Pepper sighed, allowing him to wrap his arm tightly around her as she led him back upstairs."You know for a genius, you sure are stupid sometimes."

"Only sometimes? Is that a compliment, Miss Potts?"

His question brought the tiniest of smiles to her lips. She would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy their exchanges. Most of the time. "Time for a shower, Mr. Stark. That is, if your bathroom is still intact. Or did you and Rhodes destroy that too?"

"I'm not sure, but there may be a hole in my bedroom floor."

When they made it to the top step and Pepper once again saw the mess on the main floor, she threw a hand up to her face and groaned loudly. She did not want to see what it would look like in the morning. The mere thought of it made her anxiety shoot through the roof, kinda like Tony and Rhodey did not thirty minutes earlier. "Oh, good Lord."

Tony snorted a laugh. "Don't worry. I'm sure it's not as bad as it looks."

Pepper rolled her eyes, keeping her snarky comments to herself as she guided him through the wreckage. Only a multibillionare wouldn't think that this was a big deal. There were tens of thousands worth of damage done and that was undershooting it, but she wasn't his PA anymore. Worrying about the clean up of his house wouldn't be her responsibility. No, as CEO of Stark Industries she only had to worry about cleaning up the PR mess that Tony had made when he decided to fight his friend in his Iron Man suit in the middle of his freakin' birthday party. That's when she reached his bedroom and saw the giant hole in the floor next to the bed. "Oh, sweet mother of God."

"You sure are religious tonight, Pep." Tony let out a laugh before examining the damage. Being his normal self, he was taking things in stride. "Hey, maybe this is a good thing. Now I can just shove the girls out of my bed. Nobody even has to escort them out in the morning. Easier on everybody."

His off the cuff comment was like a punch to her gut. Yes, in the past Tony had slept with women. Lots of women. She knew it for a fact since she had been the one personally escorting them out in the morning but ever since he got back from Afghanistan, he had ditched his playboy image. He was a different man now. At least she thought so but what if he hadn't changed? What if he was just being discreet now and it was all just an act for the public? For her?

"Pep?" The gentle way Tony said her name forced her to blink back the tears stinging her eyes. Tony was staring intently into her face, trying to figure out where he slipped up. For being drunk, he was extremely perspective. She had to get him to bed before he figured out too much.

"In good conscience, I can't leave you in here. I'll find you downstairs in the morning with a broken back. Come on." Pepper pulled him out of the master bedroom and down the hallway, leading him to a room that escaped his careless behavior. She didn't think about the implications of where she was bringing him until it was too late to go back, and they were both standing inside. It was her room. Well, the room she called her own when she was too tired to make the drive back her her own place after dealing with Tony's antics all day. She had brought a drunken Tony Stark into her personal bedroom. Shit.

To her surprise, he didn't say a word but his eyebrows did climb skyward in a silent question. His mouth quirked up on one side, and she could feel her heart speed up.

Tony Stark was a beautiful man. He didn't even have to try. The minute he rolled out of bed in the morning, he was drop-dead gorgeous. Even standing there with his hair sticking up all crazy and eyes glazed over from too much booze, she could think of nothing more than wanting to kiss that damn smirk right off his handsome face. Get yourself under control, Potts. Pepper did not want to deal with what she was feeling. Not right now. "Not a word, Stark. Bed. Now."

Now he openly grinned at her, giving her a playful bow before lowering himself onto the mattress. "As you wish."

Pepper sighed again, rolling her eyes as she moved past him and into bathroom. "Do you need anything before I go home? Did you want me to grab you some clothes so you can change or get your toothbrush from the other room?" She had to get out of there and soon or getting up to go to work in the morning would prove to be impossible. Once inside, she flipped on the light and removed her ponytail, shaking out her long red hair to fall across her shoulders. What a night. It was one she would not want to relive anytime soon. She was sure glad Tony Stark only had one birthday a year. She didn't think she could survive anymore of them. "Tony?" When there was no reply, she made her way back into the room to find Tony stretched out on the mattress, mouth open and snoring away like a chainsaw. He hadn't even pulled back the covers before passing out.

Pepper shook her head as she sat down on the edge of the mattress next to him, reaching out a hand to smooth his wild hair back. It felt like the most natural thing in the world to do. Touching him just felt right. "What am I going to do with you, Tony Stark?" Her words were a whisper on her lips. Letting out a shuddering breath, she rose to her feet. "And what am I going to do with myself?"


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning when Jarvis loudly announced the time and the sunlight began to stream through the windows, Tony Stark let out a moan, covering his throbbing head with the closest pillow. He was so not ready to face the day. "Jarvis, keep it down, will ya? My head is killing me."

"Not surprising, sir. You did party quite hard last night. Miss Potts can attest to that."

When Jarvis mentioned Pepper's name, Tony clutched the pillow over his face harder as the images from the night before flashed before his eyes. Last night. He had acted like a complete fool. The last thing he remembered was playing Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots with Rhodey in front of his party guests, and then Pepper had stepped in to stop them. And before that he had tried to kiss her right after he had peed in his suit. Oh shit. He was in so much trouble. Maybe he could suffocate himself with this pillow and not have to deal with the aftermath of his stupidity.

"Sir, you are aware that Colonel Rhodes left with a suit last night?"

"Yes, Jarvis. I'm aware." That had been his plan all along. He wanted Rhodey to have a suit, and he couldn't just outright give him one. He would know something was going on, and he wasn't ready to admit to anyone he was dying. Just thinking about how those closest to him would react to the news made his headache worse. It throbbed in time with his pulse. He didn't want to think right now. He wanted to go back to sleep for the next few days.

"You know, sir, there were better ways to handle the situation instead of destroying the house. Next time, why don't you ask me, and I will give you all available options."

Tony growled into the feathers. "Jarvis, would you please shut up?" He was one-hundred percent sure, if he had programmed Jarvis to laugh, that is exactly what he would be doing.

"I'm sorry, sir, one more thing before I let you catch up on your beauty sleep. I thought I would alert you to the fact that Miss Potts never left. She is currently downstairs trying to rectify the situation you created for yourself last night."

That got his full attention. Tony shot up straight in bed, blinking away sleep as his eyes slowly adjusted to the brightness of his surroundings. That was when he realized he wasn't where he should be. He wasn't in his own room. The decor was all wrong. Everything was wrong. No wonder the pillow had smelled so good. It smelled like Pepper. This was Pepper's room. He was in Pepper's bed. His heart-rate skyrocketed. How in the hell had he gotten here? Oh shit. What had he done? "I really need to lay off the alcohol," was the only thing he could think to say because thinking about what may have happened last night made him feel all sorts of inappropriate things.

"You said it, sir. I did not." Jarvis' quip was a slap back to reality.

"Jarvis..." Tony warned but there was no actual threat in his tone. He was more amused than anything. He enjoyed the fact Jarvis told it like it was. It made him seem more human than computer. He still could not remember everything that had happened. "Jarvis, how did I get here?"

"Miss Potts, brought you here, sir, because your bedroom currently has a hole in the floor. She did not want you injuring yourself."

Tony ruffled his hair, nervously, almost afraid to ask the next question. "Where did she sleep?"

"In the chair across from the bed, sir."

Tony let out a sigh of relief. Part of him was glad nothing had happened between them, and yet a larger part of him was disappointed. He really didn't want to think about why that was. Although he was really curious as to what Pepper Potts would look like naked, spread out on his bed. He wondered if she had freckles in other more intimate places, and if she did, he wanted to play connect the dots with his tongue until she was squirming underneath him, moaning his name...

"Might I recommend a shower, sir? You did have a long night."

Jarvis' voice burst through his intimate thoughts and forced him to blink the wonderful images away. Tony rubbed at his eyes. Pull yourself together, Stark. Now is not the time for fantasizing about things that will never happen. It was then he realized he was wearing the same clothes he had to his party. He ran his tongue over his teeth. Ugh. He hadn't even brushed his teeth last night. He did feel a little grubby. "Jarvis, you are such a mother hen."

"Someone has to look after you, sir, and Miss Potts is currently too busy to do so."

"Thanks, Jarvis." Tony softly padded down the hall toward his own room, careful not to make any noise. He didn't want to alert Pepper to the fact he was awake just yet. He had to figure out what the hell he was going to say to her besides the obvious "I'm sorry," she was owed. When he entered his room and saw the damage he and Rhodey had left behind in their fighting match, he sighed. "I am such an idiot."

"No. No, that's not what I said at all. Don't quote me at all if you are not going to do it right."

Tony froze when he heard Pepper's strong voice drifting up from the hole in his floor. Leaning on his doorjamb, he paused to listen. Someone was getting a stern talking to, and he was glad it wasn't him.

"Look, I'll say it again. Mr. Stark may be a lot of things but he is not dangerous. It was only a party. Yes, it did get a little out of hand but no one in attendance was injured. There was damage done to his own property. This has nothing to do with Stark Industries so I would appreciate you leaving that alone or this conversation is over. Oh, really? Good. Now that is a question I can actually answer."

She was pissed. That much was obvious. He rubbed absentmindedly at his goatee while imagining being on the other side of the phone conversation, experiencing her wrath. You won't have to wait for long, Stark. You can bet she is coming for your ass. Since it didn't sound like she was any closer to getting off the phone, he decided to take Jarvis' advice. A shower did sound amazing.

In the master bath, he poured himself out a handful of Ibuprofen and dry-swallowed them, almost choking as they tried to refuse to slide down his throat. It burned a bit, but he deserved to suffer after what he had allowed to happen last night. He had just wanted to have a good time but everything had gone downhill so fast. Why hadn't he listened to Pepper when she told him he was out of control? She wasn't wrong. She was never wrong. He shrugged out of his suit and left it on the floor. His personal tailor would have fainted in shock at the fact he allowed a suit that cost what it did to fall into a crumpled pile in his bathroom but what did he care? He wouldn't be around long enough to wear it again anyway. He would make sure Pepper knew to donate all of his clothes to charity. Someone deserved to get the full use out of Tony Stark's crazy expensive suits.

As he stood under the shower-head and let the hot water run over his back and shoulders, he shuddered and let his head fall forward against the tiles. "Fuck," he whispered. "What am I doing?"

At least Jarvis understood it was a rhetorical question and did not offer a reply. He needed this time to himself to think. What was he doing? What he was doing was dying. He was also acting irrationally and hurting the people he cared about most. Because of the stupid stunt he pulled back in Monaco, Pepper and Happy could have easily been killed by that madman Vanko and it would have been all his fault. Even though the water was scalding his skin, he shivered at the thought of Pepper's death. If he was going to be completely honest with himself, if anything had happened to her, he would have ended it for himself right there and then because what would be the point of living in a world without Pepper Potts?

He told himself he had gotten shampoo in his eyes and that's the reason they were stinging but he was only lying to himself. His chest grew tight as he thought about the woman who stood by his side through everything. Pepper had always been there for him. Even if she didn't agree with what he was doing, she had pushed her own feelings aside and helped him. Who was he kidding? He was in love with Pepper Potts. He could finally admit it to himself but in the end it really didn't matter. How he felt about her didn't matter because in a couple of weeks time, he wouldn't be around to do anything about his feelings anyway. He would be dead, and his secret would die with him. Pepper would go on to live a normal life without him. She would be happy. That was the only thing keeping him moving forward. Pepper would be just fine in a world without Tony Stark.

Standing naked in front of the mirror, he ran a hand over his chest and tapped his fingers on the arc reactor as he examined himself. The lesions were getting worse. They were starting to spread up his neck. He would not be able to hide them for much longer unless he started wearing turtlenecks and then Pepper would absolutely know something was up. Tony Stark didn't do turtlenecks.

A few minutes later, Tony had finally finished freshening up and knew it was time to face the music. "Jarvis, where's Pepper?"

"Miss Potts is back in her room, sir."

After dressing himself in his favorite Black Sabbath t-shirt and a pair of jeans, he decided he couldn't avoid her. He didn't want to avoid her because every cell in his being was telling him to go to her. The door to her room was open part way so that meant she had to be decent, right? He raised his hand to give a couple of quick courtesy knocks but let his arm fall back to his side when he saw her. He would have thought Pepper would be yelling and screaming and cursing his name but he was oh-so wrong. She was sitting on the edge of her bed facing away from him, head in her hands, thin shoulders shaking. Her hair was covering her face, and she was silent but he knew she was crying. His Pepper was crying. And it was all his fault. He had acted like a complete jackass last night and hurt her. Seeing her like that made his insides twist. In that moment, he decided he would rather be hit by a freight train than be the cause of Pepper's tears ever again.

Somehow even though he hadn't made a sound, she knew he was there because she sat straight up. She had always been extremely in tune to his presence. He was surprised by her tone when she addressed him. There was no anger present. Only concern. "Why are you acting like this, Tony? What aren't you telling me?" When she turned her tear-stained face in his direction and he saw the pain etched into her beautiful features, he found he didn't have it in him to lie anymore. He didn't want to lie. Not to her. By not telling her the truth, he was causing her a great deal of pain. He thought pushing her away would make it easier on her when he finally died because if she hated him then she wouldn't hurt when he was gone. But even after all of the shit he put her through, she still cared. He's pretty sure she would always care. It was just the type of person she was.

But when he opened his mouth to explain why he was acting like a spoiled brat, nothing came out. What was he going to say? Just outright tell her the thing that was keeping him alive was also killing him? That he was being poisoned and there was absolutely nothing anyone could do about it? Tell her that he loved her and he wished they had more time...that he was a stupid bastard and should have kissed her back on the rooftop? Anything he said now would hurt her, and that was the last thing he wanted to do.

"Tony?" Pepper wiped the tears from her freckled face as he slowly approached her. Her blue eyes searched his brown ones for an explanation as he lowered himself onto the bed, purposely situating himself so the side of his neck with the lesions wasn't visible to her. They sat there side by side in silence, and Tony spent that moment in time just staring at her. He wanted to commit each and every inch of her to his memory so when he died, if by chance there was an afterlife, he could remember her just as she was in this very moment. It wasn't very often he saw her dressed casually. She was always so professional and put together but here she was dressed in a t-shirt and a pair of jean shorts with her hair down. He liked her like this. He would have enjoyed the view of her long legs if the time had been right. And during all of his outright ogling, she stared right back at him just as intensely, and it wasn't weird. It wasn't weird at all. "Tony, please tell me what's going on."

But he couldn't. His voice was currently not working. Well, if he couldn't tell her what was happening then he could at least show her. He had never been more scared in his entire life than he was right now. With shaking hands, he grabbed the bottom of his shirt and began to pull it over his head.

Shock registered on Pepper's face, and she tried to grasp his hands to stop him. "Oh no, you don't, Mr. Stark. Don't you dare think you can weasel your way out of this simply by removing your clothing. I'm not just another one of your one-night stands..." A gasp escaped her lips as he dropped the shirt on the floor next to him. She reached out a trembling hand to touch the lesions snaking out from the arc reactor. Her touch was feather-light, and he told himself not to move but he still shivered under her touch. "What is this?" she whispered.

"Palladium poisoning from the arc reactor." It was hard for him to speak. There was a lump in his throat that just kept growing bigger by the minute.

When Pepper's hand stopped over the reactor, Tony could have sworn his heart stopped too. He took a deep breath and didn't move, watching as her eyes darted back and forth as she took it all in. "How bad is it?"

No turning back now, Stark. "I'm dying, Pepper. I don't have much longer to live."

That was obviously not the answer Pepper had been expecting. Her eyes grew wider than he had ever seen them. "What? No. No, that's just not possible."

"Pepper..."

He could see the gears turning in her head. She was on her feet in a beat, beginning to pace back and forth in front of the bed before he could stop her. "I can't believe I didn't see it before. It all makes sense now. That's why you made me CEO. That's why you pulled that crazy stunt in Monaco. That's the reason you were acting more ridiculous than usual. You were planning on dying. Well, that's not happening. Not on my watch. There has to be something we can do about this. I'm not just going to roll over and let you die. We will fix this."

There was the Pepper Potts he knew and loved. Always a problem solver with a great head on her shoulders. And she actually said we. Not you will fix this. We will fix this. Tony would have smiled if his heart hadn't been breaking into a million indistinguishable pieces at Pepper's optimism to his deteriorating condition. She seemed hopeful but little did she know, there was no hope for him. He was a dead man on borrowed time.

He took a deep breath and forced himself to continue. "I've been working on it for awhile now, Pep. Jarvis and I have tried all existing elements to try and find a suitable replacement for palladium. None exist. I'm going to die..."

"No." Pepper said, shaking her head fiercely, as if simply refusing to believe his fate would be enough to save him. "No, I don't believe that."

Tony's shoulders sagged. "And there's nothing anyone can do about it. I've accepted it, Pepper. You have to as well. I'm dying. Sooner rather than later. I don't have much time left. You have to let me go." God, it hurt saying those words. The last thing he wanted was to let her go. He wanted to grab onto her and hold on for dear life but that would only be selfish of him. He was dying. She had her whole life ahead of her. He had to walk away now even if she was the one thing that kept him alive while he was being held hostage back in Afghanistan. While he was kept in those caves, just the thought of seeing her smile at him again gave him hope. It gave him the drive he needed to save himself. Pepper Potts meant everything to him. He only wished he had the time to give her the world because she of all people deserved it. He blinked back the tears threatening to surface. But someday someone else would. That thought alone would keep him going. Pepper would not be sad forever. No one as wonderful as her could stay sad.

From the intense look in her eyes, she was not accepting that his time was up. Not one bit. He didn't know what was going on behind those blue orbs but it was a battle of epic proportions. "You are not going to fucking die on me, Tony Stark." The ferocious certainty in her tone almost made him believe her. He wanted to believe her. He wanted to believe her so badly. "I won't let you." The next second her soft lips were on his, and any coherent thought he had was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

When Pepper Potts' mind finally caught up to her body, she was horrified at what she had done. She had officially lost her freaking mind. She was actually kissing Tony Stark. Not only kissing him but she was currently straddling his lap as if she was a horny teenager with no self control. What was she doing? Back in Monaco, she had asked him if he was out of his mind but she clearly was the crazy one. Certifiably in-freakin-sane. When she tried to pull away so she could commit herself to the nearest mental institution, she found that Tony wouldn't let her. His strong arms were wrapped around her body as he held her tightly against him. Her face was now buried in the crook of his neck. Oh my God. What was she supposed to do now? What was she supposed to say? She obviously had not thought that far ahead, which was completely out of character for her, but when he had told her what he had been hiding, nothing else in the world mattered. She didn't know what she had been expecting him to admit but it definitely wasn't the fact that he was dying.

She inhaled sharply when she remembered why she had kissed him in the first place. She wished she could have enjoyed the moment of finally being this close to Tony, the familiar comforting scent of him enveloping her every thought but how could she? The invincible Iron Man, Tony Stark was dying. Tears jumped to her eyes, and she tried to will them away, which usually worked for her but the gravity of the situation was too much even for the famous Pepper Potts to handle.

"Pep, are you crying?" Tony sounded concerned.

"Maybe..."she croaked, into his skin.

"You okay?" He was rubbing her back now in a gentle circular motion. While he was only doing it to comfort her because she was upset, it was doing all sorts of crazy things to her body. They were things that she did not want to experience while she was trying to come to terms with the horrible information he had told her. It did not help that her intimate parts were pressed firmly against his. Yeah, there were several layers of clothing in between them but honestly, that didn't matter because she could feel his interest. Knowing that it was her kiss that turned him on, made her thinking process a lot slower than normal.

Once she could find the right words, Pepper pushed back from him enough to meet his eyes. "Am I okay? Tony, you just told me you are dying so if we are being perfectly honest with each other, no. No, I am not okay. I mean, I'm physically okay but everything else is definitely not okay. I am not okay with you dying."

"Is that why you kissed me, Miss Potts?" One side of Tony's mouth quirked up. "Or was there another reason?"

If it wasn't before, Pepper was sure her face was now as red as her hair. It felt like the temperature in the room shot up about ten more degrees. She was almost one-hundred percent sure she had never been this embarrassed in her entire life. She was currently straddling her ex-boss after having kissed him. She opened her mouth, and then shut it without actually speaking. Her poor brain was still trying to process what she actually wanted to say to him. Well, are you just going to sit there or tell him why you kissed him? Are you going to tell him the truth...that you are in love him? Her mouth went dry. Holy shit. She was in love with Tony.

Tony was grinning at her. He was clearly enjoying himself. "Well, I don't know about you but I liked it. Best belated birthday present ever."

Think of something to say, Potts. Anything. "Tony..." she forced out.

Tony reached out to tuck a strand of stray hair behind her ear. The small gesture alone was almost enough to start the waterworks up again. "Don't cry for me, Pepper. I'm not dead yet. I still have some time left if you want to pursue this," he gestured to her and then back to him, "further. I promise not to die until you are good and done with me."

His comment was like a slap to her face, and she inhaled sharply, wiggling her way out of his arms and off his lap to stand on her own two feet. When he reached out for her, she smacked his hand away with a little more force than she had intended. Then he had the balls to actually grin at her. He thought she was playing. How could he smile at her like that when joking about his own death. "Don't," she snapped at him. "Don't joke about this. It's not funny. None of this is remotely funny."

Tony shrugged lazily before leaning back on the bed. "Come on, Potts. Isn't this all a part of your plan? Seducing the birthday boy and giving him the present of a pity fuck before he crosses over to the otherside?"

Pepper's mouth dropped open in surprise at his words. She was used to Tony's quips but this was overstepping even for him. "Pity fuck? Are you serious?" Her shock was quickly evolving into anger. Any unshed tears that were left in her eyes were now gone. Her hands became tight fists at her sides. "You honestly think that was my plan from the beginning? You think you mean that little to me that I would use you like that?" Things had gone south fast. She had to get out of there before she said something she couldn't take back, something she would regret. "I can't talk to you right now. I'm done with you for today, Stark. I'm going to work." Without waiting for a reply, she spun on heels and marched from the room.

"Come back. Pep. Pepper!" he shouted after her but she didn't stop to listen, taking the stairs two at a time to get away from him as fast as possible. She made a dash for the front door and was outside in a matter of seconds. When she got into her car, she put her head down on the steering wheel and let the sobs overtake her.

When Tony heard the front door slam, signaling Pepper's departure, he put his head in his hands. "Shit." Way to go, Stark. You blew it. You blew it big time. He hadn't meant what he said to her but he didn't know how to talk about his death. Humor seemed like a good way to try and approach it. It worked a lot of the time. But from the way Pepper reacted, this was obviously not one of those times. He sighed as he rose to his feet. Well, he couldn't just sit in her room all day pouting. He had to get up and do something about the messes he had made. He just needed to figure out whether to start with the clean up of his house or the clean up of his Pepper first. In all honesty, the house would probably be easier and take less time.

His head was still throbbing even after having taken enough painkillers to knock out an ox and he felt extremely weak. At first, he attributed his symptoms to being kissed breathless by Pepper. Obviously, his knees would be weak after something like that. Pepper Potts had actually kissed him. God. How long had he wanted that to happen? For years it seemed like. Why hadn't he just kissed her back and kept his trap shut? He always had to go and screw things up. He adjusted his pants. They had fit fine before Pepper had climbed onto him. Man, he was going to have to take care of himself later since his damn mouth had ruined it with Pepper.

He stood up and swayed on his feet. Whoa. Then his vision went fuzzy around the edges, and he almost stumbled. Maybe he had drank too much last night. Was this the remnants of a bad hangover? No, no that wasn't it.

When he looked down and noticed the arc reactor flickering out, he knew he was in trouble. Big trouble. Black dots danced in front of his eyes, blocking out most of his vision. He threw his arms out blindly, trying to balance as his legs gave out underneath him. Somehow he ended up on the floor, sitting up against the side of the bed, staring at the door...the door where Pepper had walked out on him and left. She left him.

Why was all this happening now? He had done the calculations. He should have had more time but then, he hadn't figured in all the stupid shit he had done last night at his party. His last birthday on this Earth, and he wasted it. The device he needed to check his blood toxicity levels was in his workshop along with the unused cores and drink he had been using to try and combat the effects of the palladium. All of the things he needed were out of reach, and he was out of time. He thought he had more time.

"Sir?" Jarvis' voice was in his ears. There was worry in the AI's voice. "Sir, are you okay?"

"Jarvis..." Tony found he didn't even have the strength to lift his arm. His tongue felt thick. It was hard for him to keep his eyes open. "Jarvis..."

"Sir? Sir!"

But Tony couldn't answer. He couldn't do anything.

Goddamn him. Pepper swiped uselessly at her eyes with one hand as she drove well above the posted speed limit away from Tony's place. How dare he talk to her like that? Who in the hell did he think he was? She blew through a stop sign, and then another one. Her hand found the horn when people got her in way. Everyone needed to get off the road. She had to put as many miles as she could between herself and Tony. The further away she got, the better off she would be. Fuck you, Tony Stark. She had planned to take the entire day off to help Tony recover after the party and try to help him get his house repairs figured out but now, now he was on his own. She wasn't going to help him. After his comments, he would be lucky if she ever spoke to him again. Tony honestly believes that she would do something like fuck him out of pity? That no good son of a...

"Miss Potts?"

Jarvis' voice coming out of her car speakers almost made her lose control and swerve off the road. "Jarvis? What the hell do you think you are doing?" Pepper shouted, slamming her hand against the wheel in frustration. That's it. She was tearing the bluetooth out of her car the second she got to the office. "Can't you call like a normal person before pushing yourself through so I can choose whether or not to pick up your call? I want to be alone right now or didn't you figure that out when I walked out and slammed the door?"

"I hate to be a bother, but Mr. Stark needs your help. He is currently unconscious in your bedroom."

She could have sworn her heart skipped a couple of beats. Her hands gripped the wheel harder than she thought was humanly possible."What?"

"It seems he depleted his latest palladium core faster than he planned by using his suit to do party tricks last night. That coupled with him not drinking his usual eighty ounces of chlorophyll to counteract the radioactivity and palladium in his blood, his body is shutting down."

"Shit!" Before Jarvis had even finished his explanation, Pepper was slamming on the brakes and whipping the car around to head back to Tony's. The way she recovered from the skid she put herself in was impressive. That shit could have been on the Fast and the Furious. Vin Diesel would be proud. She pushed her car faster than she had ever before. 80 then 90. 95. She prayed the police didn't catch wind of her speeding because there was no way she was stopping for anyone. They would have to shoot her to get her to stop. She had to get to Tony. Luckily, the drive back to his house was uneventful.

"I'm opening the garage door to the workshop," Jarvis said. "That is where the new palladium power cores are located."

Turning into the driveway, Pepper almost put the car on two wheels. How she recovered from that, only God knows. She finally slowed the car down when she pulled into the workshop, stopping only inches away from the bumper of Tony's Audi R8. She barely remembered to throw the car into park before bailing from her seat, leaving the car running and the door wide open. "Jarvis, what am I looking for?"

"The cores are in the desk in a brown case. The drink is in the front of the refrigerator in a water bottle."

With trembling hands, she yanked the desk drawer open and grabbed the case. She tucked it snugly her arm before darting over to the fridge to grab the bottle. When both items were tucked into one arm, Pepper dashed for the stairs. Please be okay. Please be okay. Why the hell had she run out on him like that? If she had been there, this wouldn't be happening right now.

When she reached the door to her bedroom, she almost dropped the lifesaving items onto the floor. "Tony!" The scream that ripped out of her throat didn't sound like her own. He was sitting slumped over on the floor, back against the bed. His head lolled forward on his shoulders. He was paler than she could ever remember seeing him. She placed the contents of her arms on the floor next to him so she could check for a pulse. When she found one, the breath she had been holding in for far too long, shuddered out of her.

"You will have to replace the core yourself," Jarvis said. "I will walk you through it."

Pepper took another deep breath, finding her inner focus and nodded. She could do this. She had to do this. For Tony. After all, she had been the one who helped him change out the old reactor for this new one. Her hands were shaking but she still was able to follow Jarvis' directions. Once the depleted core was removed and the new one was put into the reactor, she clicked it back into place in Tony's chest. The arc reactor immediately lit up a familiar blue.

"Come on, Tony. Wake up." Pepper was touching his face, running her fingers along his goatee, watching in panic as seconds ticked by without him responding to her. She had been crying since before she even left the house, and she would cry until she died if he didn't come back to her."Tony, please. You have to open your eyes," she begged. What if he didn't wake up? What if he just slipped away from her now and she never got to tell him how she really felt? How could she live with herself?

She should have admitted that she loved him when he outright asked why she had kissed him. Instead of being mad at him, the only person she should be mad at is herself. After all, how was he supposed to know how she truly felt if she never told him?

A soft moan snapped her out of her thoughts. Pepper had never heard a more beautiful sound. When Tony's dark eyes fluttered opened and he looked up at her through his lashes, she could barely restrain herself from pressing a kiss to his lips out of relief. "Tony!"

"Pepper, you came back."

"Of course I did. I came the second I knew you were in trouble." The water bottle shook in her hands when she held it out for him to take. It was going to take awhile for her body to stop trembling. There was way too much adrenaline flowing through her veins for her to sit still. Her voice was far steadier than the rest of her. "Tony, you have to drink this."

Tony held up a finger and shook his head. "Wait..."

"Jarvis told me to make sure you drink this."

Tony pushed it back in her direction. "I know, and I will but I need to say something first."

Furrowing her brows, Pepper pushed the bottle toward him again. He was already starting to get on her nerves. Funny how that worked. The second he was no longer in immediate danger, she wanted to throttle him again. "Tony, really...it can wait until after you finish this." She held it out but Tony shook his head.

"Nope. This needs to be said now. It's important. I love you, Pepper Potts." Obviously happy with himself, he pursed his lips and nodded before snatching the bottle out of her hands.

Pepper's eyes went wide. "What did you just say?" Her annoyance with him vanished as she watched him down the drink. Another shock like this and Pepper would be the one who was dying. Her poor heart could only take so much before giving out completely.

He took a few more swallows before setting the bottle down and meeting her eyes. "I think you heard me the first time."

The intensity of his gaze reminded her of the night they had danced at the Firefighters' Family Benefit, the night she was finally going to kiss him and then chickened out at the last second. After Tony had went to get drinks and never came back for her, she had told herself that she merely imagined that look but now, staring into his eyes, she knew she hadn't. It was real. "I think...I think I need to hear it again."

Her words made him smile. He awarded her with a full one-hundred watt grin that was all Tony. "I love you."

She swallowed. Yep. She had heard it right the first time. Three little words have now changed her entire universe. Tony Stark loves her.


	4. Chapter 4

"Really? No comments? Questions? Concerns?" The King of Cool, Tony Stark was starting to get nervous. He was usually great at remaining calm and collected under pressure but not knowing what was going on in Pepper's head about his confession...this was a different kind of torment. As he was losing consciousness after Pepper walked out on him earlier, he made a promise right then and there that if he survived, he would tell her how he felt. She deserved to know how much she meant to him. But now that he actually had said the words to her, he was beginning to regret it. What if she didn't feel the same way? What if his words scared her, and she left and never came back? He would much rather keep her close and keep his feelings to himself if it meant losing her all together. Not that he had much time left anyway due to the palladium poisoning but still. Losing her now would kill him faster than the palladium ever would.

He dared to take another quick glance at her before averting his eyes to the floor again. She was simply sitting there, staring at him. He couldn't get a read on her. He couldn't read her at all. Maybe she didn't actually hear him the first time he said it, and when she asked him to repeat it, he should have made something else up because she obviously didn't love him back. Not that Tony could blame her. Why would she love him? He was arrogant, self-centered, narcissistic. Those were only a few of his undesirable traits, and there were thousands. He didn't know why she stuck around him all these years. She was perfect. She deserved so much better than him but he was a selfish man. He just couldn't let her go. He would hold onto her as long as possible by whatever means necessary. He couldn't sit in silence any longer while she decided she wanted to leave him for good.

Tony rubbed at the back of his neck. He still couldn't bring himself to make eye contact with her. Seeing any rejection reflected in her eyes would destroy him. "Look, Pep...just..." He was about to tell her to forget it, that it was merely a joke and have a good laugh with her about the whole thing when he felt her warm body climb into his lap. Her arms went around him again. She was trembling. It was as if she was coming apart in his arms. Oh shit. She was crying for the hundredth time today because of him.

"I can't lose you, Tony. I can't. You're all I have." He could feel Pepper's tears against his cheek. Her hot breath shuddering out of her against his ear made him shiver. "Promise me you won't give up." She tightened her grip around his shoulders, clinging to him like her presence was the only thing keeping him where he was, and it may have been. "Promise me you'll keep fighting."

Tony circled her shaking body with his arms, hugging her back just as fiercely. He didn't want to die. He wanted to live. He wanted to live for her. "I promise." He was about to apologize for making her cry but his words were silenced when Pepper's lips closed over his, shutting him up. The first kiss they shared was short and sweet but this, this was knock your socks off amazing. For the second time in one day, Pepper was straddling his lap. That in itself was great but now as she was forcefully pressing him back into the side of the bed devouring his mouth with hers, demanding he respond to her, he knew he wasn't going to die. He couldn't die because she wouldn't let him.

Being who he was, he had been with tons of women but he honestly could say he has never felt like this before. Pepper wasn't just one of his one-night stands, and he was glad he hadn't fucked up by taking her to bed back when he didn't know how to treat a woman. If he had made his move before finally figuring his shit out while being held captive in Afghanistan, he would have hurt her. Pepper Potts was not just another notch in his bedpost, and he was going to prove it to her by giving her the most pleasurable experience of her life...as soon as she let him but right now he was just going to lie back and enjoy the ride.

At least Pepper was no longer crying. She was currently nipping and kissing her way up his neck, still holding him in place as she worked him over. He tried to move into a different position but she forced him to remain still. He loved this side of her. It's one of the many reasons he made her CEO of his company. She knew what she wanted, and she went for it.

Unlike most of the people who worked for Tony, she wasn't afraid to go toe to toe with him. If she didn't like what he was doing, she told him so and didn't hold back. She didn't bullshit him. It had caused quite a bit of tension in meetings where people who didn't understand their relationship thought he was going to fire her on the spot for making a scene. But her determination and stubbornness only made him want her more. Never once had he wanted to fire her. There was more than one occasion where they were at each other's throats, and he wanted nothing more than to bend her over the table and fuck her. There was nothing like getting a hard on during an important business meeting because of a tongue thrashing from the bullheaded Pepper Potts.

Speaking of Pepper, her hands were threaded through his hair, and she was currently grinding on him in a way that made his eyes roll back in his head. It wouldn't take long like this and he would finish before they even started. When her teeth and tongue grazed his ear lobe, everything whited out for a second. Well, if he died now, at least he would die happy.

"Why the hell didn't we do this sooner?" Tony panted. "I should have kissed you back on the roof that night because this...this is great. No wait. That's not the right word. What word am I looking for? Awe-inspiring? Sensational? Mind-blowing?"

He heard Pepper giggle and it made him smile. God. He loved her laugh. Just one of the million things he loved about the woman who was on top of him. When her fingers traced the outline of his goatee up to his ears, he sighed, letting his eyes close as he reveled in her touch.

"Why don't you use that amazing mouth of yours to do something other than talk for once?" she asked. "Do you need some suggestions because I have a few."

His eyes flew open. Holy fuck. This was so damn hot. The way she was looking at him was making him absolutely crazy. He couldn't remember a time he was more turned on. There had been too much sexual tension between them both for far too long. Part of him wanted to rip her clothes off and fuck her into oblivion but most of him wanted to take his sweet time and make it last as long as possible. The payoff of hearing her screaming his name was worth the wait. He noticed Pepper watching him intently and decided to have a little fun with her. Slowly, he traced his lips with his tongue, rewarded when Pepper's own lips parted in kind, her breathing speeding up. He hoped she was imagining what he was planning to do. "I can think of a few things to try."

When she leaned in to capture his lips again, he decided it was his turn to take charge, hoisting her up over his shoulder as she kicked her legs in her air. "Anthony Stark!" she shrieked as she smacked at his back playfully. "Put me down now before you hurt yourself!"

He obeyed, depositing her on the bed before climbing on top of her. He decided to slow things down for the moment as he admired the beautiful woman underneath him. Her lips were swollen from the intensity of the kisses they shared. Her cheeks were flushed, bringing out the freckles on her cheeks and nose. Her eyes were the most stunning blue. Not only was there passion reflected in those eyes but worry. She was scared for him. Of course she was. He had just told her he was dying. Shit. He was dying before she rescued him. She needed to know he was okay.

He leaned forward, rubbing his nose against hers. Pepper smiled as she nuzzled him back. "I'm fine, Pep. I swear. I would tell you if I wasn't. Right now, in this moment, I have never felt better. I will tell you if that changes. No more secrets between us. Okay?"

Pepper bit her bottom lip and nodded. "Okay."

"Unless of course we are talking presents. Then it's okay to keep a secret or two. Or possibly planning a fun night out on the town. I've got an idea for something we have to do one of these days..."

While he was rambling on as he often found himself doing, Pepper decided he was talking too much, and took the reigns back from him. He found himself on his back with her on top, her lips roaming over his jaw, her fingers popping the button on his jeans. He didn't even know how she pulled that one off. Not only saw she demanding but sneaky. He liked that. "Getting impatient, Potts? I guess I should follow your lead. You are the boss, now, right? You make the rules. Although this is my house so maybe I should be in charge."

"But this is my bed..." He cut her off, covering her lips with his own. Her mouth obediently opened under his, their tongues entwining in a dance that was brand new and yet utterly familiar. It was like they were made for each other. Her kisses were intoxicating, better than his favorite Scotch. He could get drunk on her every night. Hell, every day. Several times a day. Honestly, all day long if he was being honest with himself. He sank his teeth into her neck, drawing a yelp of pleasure from her as he sucked at her skin. She was so soft and delicious. He wanted to feast on her all day.

When she pulled away from him, he almost whimpered from the lack of contact but when he realized what she planned to do, he decided he was okay with it. Pepper smirked at him as she removed her shirt, revealing the black lace bra hidden underneath. Tony's soul left his body. His interest was clearly written all over his face among other more intimate places because Pepper sat back, watching his reaction as she traced her flat stomach with her hands, slowly bringing them up over her breasts, stopping to give them a firm squeeze. Just her touching herself was going to make come. Now that would be embarrassing for his sex god reputation.

"Like what you see, Mr. Stark?"

Tony's mouth went dry. Never before in his life had he seen a more breath-taking sight. Pepper Potts was the most beautiful woman in the world. And she was all his. He couldn't find the words he wanted to say. She rendered him completely, utterly speechless. He settled for nodding enthusiastically. When she undid the clasp of her bra and slipped it from her shoulders, his eyes went wide at the sight of her perky, supple breasts. He would be lying if he said he never fantasized about what they would look like but this was better than his dreams.

"How about this? Is this better?" She titled her head to one side and then the other way as she gauged his reaction.

He was dead. He had to be fucking dead because if heaven was real, this was it. Her breasts were perfect. She was perfect. This entire situation was perfect. And his question about her having freckles on her chest and stomach was now answered. There were so many freckles dotting her milky white skin. And before the day was over, he was going to lick every fucking one of them.

"You are awfully quiet, Tony. Should I be worried?" Pepper asked.

He wasn't about to answer her with words. Actions were much more fun and effective. Her head snapped back, a moan escaping her lips when his hands reached out to cup her breasts, fingers grazing her nipples. They were perfect as if they were made just for his hands alone. Yep. That settled it. There was no one else for him. She was his. He was hers. Forever.

"You are perfect, Pepper." He wanted her to believe him. He needed her to believe him. "Fucking perfect. You always have been. I was a fucking idiot not to see it sooner."

"Tony..."

The way she said his name was like a mantra, and it only made him want her more. Little did she know, she didn't even have to touch him to turn him on. He couldn't count how the number of times she made him hard by just saying his name a certain way and a lot of those times, she had only been asking him to sign something. He ran his hands up the smooth skin on her sides, relishing when she quivered under his touch. Her heart was racing because of him. "Say my name again, Potts. I'll never get sick of the way you say my name. Tell me you want this. I need to hear it."

"Tony!" His mouth found her left breast, sucking the nipple into his mouth. "Oh my God. Tony! Yes, please. I do. I need you. Please." Her hands were in his hair, holding him against her as he sucked and nipped at her. He would never get tired of her taste. He couldn't wait to sample every single inch of her body, and commit it to his memory. Her moans of pleasure escalated as his tongue swirled around her nipple, driving him to move his fingers to the button on her jean shorts. Was she wearing matching panties? His question was about to be answered. This was most definitely the best birthday ever. He was going to touch her now. He needed to touch her. He wouldn't be satisfied until he was buried balls deep in her with her head thrown back as she screamed his name, her nails raking down his back, leaving marks over his skin, claiming him as hers...

"Sir!"

Jarvis' voice broke Tony's concentration, and for the first time in his life, his nimble fingers failed to do what he commanded of them. He must be fucking dreaming. There was absolutely no way Jarvis, the AI he had programmed himself was interrupting the best thing that had ever happened in his life. "Jarvis, I swear to God I will download you into a flash drive and bury you at the bottom of the ocean if you don't stop talking this instant..."

"I'm sorry, sir, but you have visitors," Jarvis insisted. To his credit, he did actually sound sorry.

Tony growled into Pepper's skin. He was finally about to make love to the woman of his dreams, and the AI he created was ruining it for him. "Do I really have to tell you to send them away? Do your job for once or I'll...ah!" One of Pepper's wandering hands slid into the front of his pants and derailed his train of thought. Jarvis was lucky Pepper was so damn distracting.

"I can't, sir. They are manually overriding my protection protocols and coming inside as we speak."

Jarvis' warning made Pepper stop what she was doing. The passion in her eyes was quickly becoming panic. "They are coming inside now? Like right now?" A squeal of panic escaped her lips as she covered her breasts with her arms. In record time, she had unmounted him and shot off the bed, only stooping to scoop up her bra and t-shirt as she ran into the bathroom and shut the door.

The unwelcome visitors had just interrupted what was most likely going to become the best sex Tony Stark would ever have in his life. Tony felt his temper rising. Somebody was going to die today, and it wasn't him. He was going to kill someone. "Who the hell is it?" He growled as he sat up. He wanted to know exactly who he would be murdering in a matter of seconds.

"Miss Rushman and Mr. Fury, sir."

Tony swung his legs over the side of the bed. He was no longer angry, only confused. Natalie showing up didn't surprise him. Not really. Last night before the party started, he told her she could have the following day off because he was planning on spending it in bed nursing what would likely be a massive hangover, but she seemed like the type to ignore his requests. But why the hell was Fury here? And what the hell were they doing here together? It made no sense.

"Sir, just so you are aware, Mr. Hogan has also just pulled up. He has informed me he was worried because neither you or Pepper were answering your phones."

Tony hung his head and huffed in disappointment. Wonderful. Just wonderful. Everyone and their freakin' mother was coming over. He was never going to get laid. Well, not until he confronted everyone and got rid of them. He searched the floor for his disguarded shirt but couldn't find it. It must have gotten lost in his excitement. That wasn't a shock. Pepper had the ability to make his genius brain incapable of processing simple thoughts. Letting out a sigh of disappointment as his eyes passed over the bathroom door where Pepper disappeared, he pushed himself off the bed and headed to his own room. He rifled through his drawers before picking out a plain grey shirt, pulling it over his head before heading for the stairs.


	5. Chapter 5

Pepper hands were trembling uncontrollably as she tried desperately to redo the clasp on her bra. Never in her life had she gotten so worked up over a man touching her but Tony was not like any other guy. From day one, she was attracted to him. Who wouldn't be? He was charismatic. He was attractive. Over the many years working for him, she built up a wall to keep him out. She did it to protect herself because she couldn't let herself feel anything toward him. If she did, she would have her heart broken again and again. It didn't take her long to learn that Tony Stark was a playboy. All of the women she was forced to kick out in the morning was a testament to that. It took awhile to build the wall strong enough to keep him out completely because several times his charm almost got her into bed. Almost.

Then Afghanistan happened, and everything changed. She almost lost him. He came back a changed man. He grew up. Yes, he was still as cocky and full of himself as ever but something in him shifted. She noticed he started ignoring women he would normally be all over. The last woman she was forced to eject from the house was Christine Everhart and that was almost ten months ago. Pepper began to wonder if she was the first woman he had touched since his kidnapping. She sure hoped so.

Her fingers finally hooked the clasp, and she pulled the shirt over her head. She could stand in the bathroom all day speculating about Tony's sex life but that would only make her crazy. She needed to do something to keep her mind occupied so she decided to head into work.

Pepper descended the stairs and found Tony in deep conversation with a man in a leather jacket and eye patch. Natalie was standing next to the unknown man wearing a tight leather getup herself. Pepper blinked in confusion. Was she carrying a gun? What in the hell was Tony's new PA doing with a gun? Tony didn't seem intimidated by either of them so he must feel safe. In fact, he seemed a bit pissed off. This was not a conversation she wanted to be sucked into. "It looks like you are busy so I'll just go, and catch up with you later." Pepper was heading for the stairs to the workshop before Tony could reply but was stopped by Jarvis.

"Miss Potts, I regret to inform you that your car has run out of gas."

That's right. In her rush to save Tony's life, she left her car running. She was almost out of gas when she left his house the first time so it wasn't a shock that her car was now on empty. Well, she wouldn't be getting out of this awkward situation anytime soon. She took a moment to compose herself before turning to face the room's occupants.

The man with the eye patch was staring at her. The shear intensity of his gaze made her uneasy. Who was this guy and why did his stare make her want to apologize when she had done nothing wrong? Natalie was standing with her hands on her hips in close proximity to the man. They obviously knew each other. And yes, Natalie most definitely was carrying a weapon. Dear Lord...what had Tony gotten himself into?

Just when Pepper was on the verge of asking Natalie what in the hell was going on, Happy appeared and gave her a way out. She could ask Tony for the details later. "Happy, can you take me to the office? I have a lot I have to get done today. I do need to swing by the cleaner's first to pick up my suit if that's okay." The strange way Happy was staring at her was starting to make her uncomfortable. He was looking at her like she had sprouted a third head. Okay, so she was dressed casual, but why was that so odd? She wasn't planning to go into work today until Tony's "friends" showed up. In fact, she was staring to get annoyed with him. "What?"

Happy was surprised she called him out. He refused to make eye contact with her. "Nothing. I just didn't know you were into Black Sabbath."

Pepper's eyes darted down, growing wide when she noticed what she was wearing. In her hurry to get dressed, she grabbed Tony's t-shirt and not her own. She got dressed in the bathroom in a hurry but hadn't even stopped to check herself in the mirror before coming down. Crap. Crap. Crap.

"I have an album of theirs in the car if you want to listen to it on the way in. What's your favorite song?" Happy still wouldn't look at her. He knew it was Tony's shirt. He freakin' knew. That's why he was acting strange.

Tony was clearly enjoying both of their discomfort. The smirk on his face just kept growing wider by the minute. He wasn't going to help her out. He was watching her digging herself deeper into a hole she would never be able to get out of. Luckily for him, he was adorable when he smiled or she would have kicked his butt for enjoying watching her squirm under pressure.

Happy was still trying to come to grips with what he believed happened between her and Tony because he was rambling on about the first time he listened to the band plastered on the front of the shirt she was wearing. It wasn't fair really because the images that were likely flashing before his eyes hadn't even happened yet. They were interrupted before they even got to the good part. She was starting to get hot and bothered again thinking about Tony's mouth roaming over her body. She needed to get out of there. And quick. "Happy, stop talking. Go out to the car and wait for me. I'll be out in a second."

Happy was pleased she gave him an out. "Okay, boss." Without even giving her a second glance, he was out the door faster than she had ever seen him move in his life.

Tony watched him go before turning back in her direction. "Yeah. What's your favorite Black Sabbath song, Miss Potts? By any chance, would it be 'Iron Man'?

The smile she was holding in busted out when he wagged his eyebrows at her. "Shut up," she said playfully giving him a gentle shove. He took her by surprise, grabbing her wrist and reeling her in. He was close enough to lean in and kiss her but he didn't move. He only stood there, gazing into her eyes like his life depended on it. Her heart was pounding overtime in his chest. What was he thinking?

He glanced over at the man and then to Natalie before meeting her eyes once again. "Can you two go wait for me in the other room? I promise I won't run away. I just need to talk to Miss Potts in private for a moment before she leaves."

"Make it quick, Stark. We have a lot to discuss," the man said as he motioned for Natalie to follow him.

Once they left the room, Tony took her hands in his. She didn't think her heart could speed up anymore but oh boy was she wrong. His touch alone was going to make her spontaneously combust on the spot. His hands were much bigger than hers. While her hands were soft and smooth, his were rough and calloused from many hours building in his workshop.

"I like you in my shirts. I think you should dress like this every day."

Pepper smiled at him. "I'm pretty sure that would go against SI dress code."

"Not if you worked from here. Actually, if you worked from here we could skip the clothes all together." The smoldering look he gave her made warmth pool in her belly. If there hadn't been people in the other room, she would have jumped him right then and had her way with him on the floor.

Pull yourself together, Potts. She forced the images of a naked Tony Stark out of her head. "Tony, you made me CEO. I have a company to run. I'm pretty sure if we had no clothes on we would never get any work done." Pepper tore her eyes away from Tony to shoot a glance over her shoulder to where the man and Natalie had disappeared. "Why are they here? Are you going to be okay?"

"I'll be fine. I can handle them. Go get some work done for once."

"As long as they keep you busy, that won't be a problem," she shot back.

He lifted a brow. "Touche, Potts."

The mood suddenly shifted as she remembered the words he said to her earlier. "But I'm serious, Tony. Will you be okay?" Her right hand rested on his shirt over the arc reactor. She could feel the steady beat of his heart through his shirt. "You told me you were dying. You told me you already tried everything. You were unconscious not that long ago. I'm worried about you Tony."

"I won't give up if that's what you are asking. I want to live, Pep." He brought a hand up to rest over the top of hers. "I've never wanted to live so badly in my entire life."

"Is that so?" Pepper leaned in and put her lips next to his ear, flicking her tongue out to trace the outside of his lobe, only satisfied when a soft moan escaped his lips. "You better live long enough to finish what you started with me, Mr. Stark. I don't like being disappointed. Otherwise, I will have to outsource your services elsewhere."

The thought of her with someone else obviously did not sit well with him because he openly frowned. "You better not."

Pepper could tell she was getting to him, and deciding to keep running with it. Maybe he needed a bit more motivation to fix himself. She would give him something to think about. She would give him a reason to live. "You aren't getting this," she guided his right hand between her legs to cup her femininity, and he inhaled sharply through his nose, "until you fix this," before tapping him gently several times on the arc reactor. "You better get to work." When she pulled away and saw the lust reflected in his gaze, she knew her plan worked.

"I had no idea you were such a tease, Potts. When I figure this out, you won't be walking for a week."

Pepper trailed her fingers devilishly up his arm. "Looking forward to it." When she stepped back, staring at him from under her lashes, Tony couldn't resist reaching out for her. She stepped just out of range of his grasp, grinning mischievously at him. He called her a tease. She would show him a tease. "Will that be all, Mr. Stark?"

She watched his Apple's apple bob as he swallowed. "That will be all, Miss Potts."

Clearly happy with the way things were going, Pepper almost skipped down the walk to the car where Happy was waiting. While she was excited and ready to talk, Happy was not in a chatty mood. Not that she blamed him. He clearly didn't know what to think about the shift in her and Tony's relationship, and she wasn't about to force him to talk about it. After stopping by the cleaner's, Pepper got changed and did her hair in the back seat. As she was stepping out of the car to enter the SI building, Happy did a double take in the mirror. His eyes almost popped out of his head.

"Ummm, Pepper. You might want to consider putting your hair back down," he suggested. It was the first thing he said to her since he left her and Tony alone in the house, and it was weird. Happy was giving advice on her appearance?

Pepper was confused. "Why would I do that?

Happy motioned toward the side view mirror.

Pepper leaned in to examine herself, trying to figure out what in the heck Happy was talking about. Her dress suit was freshly pressed without a single winkle or stain on it. She was almost sure the red wine she spilled on it a few days ago wouldn't come out but there was no sign of it anywhere. The cleaner had done a great job. Her hair looked just fine to her and that's when she noticed the giant hickey on the side of her neck courtesy of Tony Stark. Her eyes grew wide. She hadn't had a hickey like that since she was sixteen years old. She gasped. One hand flew up to cover it while the other released her hair from the clip holding it up to cover the bruise. Now she was the one who was embarrassed.

"Pick you up at five?" Happy called after her as she made a dash for the building.

Pepper scurried inside, not stopping to talk to anyone. Her odd behavior earned her a lot of funny looks. She was usually open and friendly with everyone she met but not today. Maybe there was makeup in her desk so she could try and cover it up. At least she hadn't planned on coming in today so all of the meetings she would normally be attending were rescheduled.

Once inside her office, she closed her door and allowed herself to finally relax as she sank into her chair. A blush rose back into her cheeks as she recalled the events of earlier in the day. Tony Stark admitted he loved her. He really loved her. Pepper froze. Oh shit. She had gotten so caught up in everything that she hadn't even told Tony that she loved him back. She dialed his number but he didn't pick up. Dammit. When it rolled over to voicemail, she hung up. Well, this really wasn't something she should say over the phone anyway. She would stop by and surprise him later. After all, she did have to retrieve her car from his place. Now that she had things all sorted out, she dove headfirst into her work. After all, it was the only thing that would keep her mind from wandering off and thinking about all the things she wanted to do with her ex-boss.


	6. Chapter 6

No matter how many times she tried during the day, Pepper could not get a hold of Tony. It was starting to worry her. Under normal circumstances, Tony not returning her calls or emails wasn't anything to think twice about. She couldn't count the number of times she tried to reach him only to find him completely engrossed in a project in his workshop. But knowing that he was sick changed everything. Maybe he was unconscious again. Maybe he was dying and no one was there to help him...

She was seconds away from demanding Happy take her to his house to check on him when Natalie showed up to the office and assured her everything was fine, that he was only working. The woman was dressed normally once again. Part of her wanted to ask why the hell she had been in the tight leather super spy getup when she saw her at Tony's but maybe she really didn't want to know. With all of the fallout she was still dealing with from Tony's crazy stunt in Monaco and now his birthday party disaster, she really did not have time for whatever shit Natalie was a part of.

She was soon alerted to the fact that Justin Hammer was going to be giving a demonstration at the Stark Expo the following day and as CEO, it was her job to fly to New York to keep tabs on what he was up to. Natalie agreed to join her. She did really want to talk to Tony before she left but when she showed up to Tony's house Agent Coulson wouldn't let her in. That man was lucky he had helped her with the whole Obadiah ordeal or she would have clocked him for blocking her access. Never before in all of the years she had worked for Tony had she not be able to go inside whenever she wanted. Coulson told her the same thing Natalie had said. That Tony was fine but busy working on something. It was his job to make sure he had no interruptions.

So that's how she found herself flying to New York without having any sort of communications with Tony. The entire flight, all she could do was worry about him. How could she not? He had just told her he was dying, and she left him behind. The last time she was in this very plane, in this very seat, Tony had been the one sitting across from her. He had disappeared for quite sometime before returning with a silver covered plate in his hand, setting it down in front of her. She had raised an eyebrow in question as he raised the lid. An omelet. Had he actually made her an omelet?

"What is that?" she asked.

"This is your in-flight meal," Tony said.

"Did you just make that?" Pepper was shocked Tony actually made her food, let alone made her food on an airplane of all places.

"Yeah. Where do you think I've been for three hours?"

He was trying to be funny but Pepper knew something was clearly bothering him. "Tony, what are you not telling me?" She straight up asked him what was going on because she knew something was wrong.

"I don't want to go home. At all. Let's cancel my birthday party and…we're in Europe. Let's go to Venice, Cipriani. Remember?"

"Oh, yes."

"It's a great place...to be healthy."

Pepper smacked herself in the forehead as she remembered the last part of his statement about Venice. It's a great place...to be healthy. It had been so strange of him to say off the cuff like that. Why hadn't she pushed him harder to try and find out what was wrong? She just let his comment slide and because of that, he could have died without her knowing anything was wrong with him in the first place. She could have walked into his workshop one morning to find him on the floor cold and dead, the beautiful brown eyes that she often found herself lost in, open and unblinking. Pepper shuddered violently.

"You okay?"

Pepper blinked the image of Tony's lifeless body from her eyes and found Natalie in the seat across from her staring intently in her direction. "Yeah," was all Pepper could bring herself to say as she tried to rub the goosebumps from her arms.

"Tony will be fine."

Pepper glared. "I'm not thinking about Tony."

Natalie gave her a look that told her she didn't believe her one bit. "Miss Potts, I know you are worried about Tony. You have my word that he will pull through this."

Pepper's grip tightened on the arm rests. Oh wasn't that just special? What the hell good was Natalie's word to her? Pepper didn't trust her. Not at all. "I'm done talking about Tony with you." Pepper sounded like a child, not the CEO of a Fortune 500 company but she didn't care. Natalie clearly knew more than she did about Tony's condition and that pissed her off. Did Tony trust this woman more than her?

When Tony had made Natalie his PA without telling her, she wanted to strangle him. He was lucky they were in public when she made the discovery or she would have let loose on his ass. Giving the woman across from her a quick glance, Pepper was completely honest with herself of why she had been angry with Tony for hiring her in the first place. Plain and simple, she was jealous. Natalie was drop-dead gorgeous, and she was going to be working up close and personal with Tony every single day. Thinking about them spending time together made her stomach heave because she was almost positive how it would end up. It would end with them sleeping together and thinking about that...well, Pepper just could not think about that without feeling like she wanted to scream. And cry. But mostly cry.

A loud ding followed by the seat belt light coming on above her alerted Pepper that they would be landing soon. She let out a sigh of relief. Thank God! She was beyond ready to get off the plane and get to the demonstration.

Well, she thought she was ready for it and then the demonstration actually happened. She was shocked to see Rhodey show up in the suit Tony had made for him. It had altercations done to it but it was Tony's suit. He was working with Justin Hammer? Yes, Tony had been acting irrationally lately but in his defense...wait, was she actually going to defend Tony's reckless behavior for once? Well, to be fair, she didn't know how she would react if she found out she didn't have much longer to live. Rhodes had to have no idea that his best friend was knocking at death's door. There is no way he would act like this if he knew what was really going on. And that's when Tony showed up in his own suit and everything went to hell. What followed was chaos, shooting, explosion and people fleeing in terror...all because of Justin freakin' Hammer and Ivan Vanko.

And that's how she eventually found herself standing on some random rooftop in the middle of Queens with Tony Stark. Tony who had just swooped in and saved her from being blow to smithereens. When she had first heard the beeping sound and her eyes fell on the red flashing light on the drone, she knew it wasn't good news. She knew she needed to get out of there. But even as her brain was screaming at her to run, her legs wouldn't move. No matter how hard she tried to make them cooperate, they rebelled against her, sticking her to the spot. She always wondered why deer just stood there illuminated in the headlights, watching as impending doom came barreling toward them at breakneck speed. Now she understood. If Tony hadn't gotten there when he did, she would be the one who was dead.

Not that this was the first time Tony Stark had saved her life. Not that long ago, Obadiah almost killed her when he had gone hungry with power, and it was Tony who stopped him from filling her with holes. God. Maybe Tony has already made up for all of the shit he put her through in the many years as his PA. Even after having to escort all of his one-night-stands out the morning after, even after having to pull his inebriated ass off the floor after he collapsed from drinking too much, even after having to sit with him by the toilet all night rubbing his back while he vomited his guts out, Tony Stark had saved her life on multiple occasions.

"Pepper?" Her attention snapped back to Tony. He had removed his helmet, the wind was ruffling his thick hair. It was hard not to throw herself on him and thread her fingers through it. The cocky grin on his face was the only thing stopping her from doing it. Ugh. Wasn't it possible for him to be modest for one freakin' minute? "So, how do you like being CEO so far? Is it keeping you busy?"

"Well, with you constantly making a mess of things, I would say yes," Pepper shot back.

Stumbling back a step, Tony put a hand over his heart, pretended to be offended. "Hey! I just saved you. I think I did okay." He did a grand gesture with his hand. The giant explosion that followed seemed to state otherwise. Everything around them was burning and here he was trying to play it off as no big deal.

That was her Tony. Always making a mess of things. Pepper shook her head, giving him a small smile. "Oh, Tony. What am I going to do with you?"

"Anything you'd like, Potts. I'm game. Have your way with me." He wagged his eyebrows and spread his arms out in front of him, inviting her to do with him what she wished.

Pepper sighed. Of course Tony would have an answer to her rhetorical question. Although if she was being completely honest with herself, if he wasn't currently in his Iron Man suit, she might have allowed herself to indulge but she chose to ignore his suggestive comment because she had some questions she wanted him to answer. "So, you really aren't dying anymore. You are really okay?"

He let his arms drop to his sides. "I'm as fit as a fiddle. I discovered a new element to power the reactor. Well, actually my dad discovered it but didn't have the means to create it. I only synthesized it."

That surprised Pepper. "Your dad?"

"Yep. Schooling me even in his death. Pretty cool, huh? I'm glad I'm not dying anymore but hey, if I did, I might have be able to pleasure you from beyond the grave. Maybe it's a Stark super power."

Pepper could feel her temper rising once again. He was still playing everything off like it all was a giant joke to him. Even though he was quite a bit taller than her in his suit and because of the fact her high heels had been left on the ground below when he swept her off her feet, she took a threatening step toward him, poking him where the reactor sat. "You keep anything like this from me again, Stark, and I quit. I will walk away from you and won't look back. You will have to memorize the other eight digits of your social security number and get yourself shoes without laces because I'm gone! I will disappear from your life forever. Got it?"

Tony must have finally understood she meant business because he immediately dropped the humor as he put his hands up in front of him in surrender. "Pepper, don't be mad."

Pepper crossed her arms over her chest and flared her nostrils. "I am mad. I am so mad at you, Anthony Stark. You may have just saved my life but you have been rash and careless and...and..."

"I'm sorry," Tony interjected softly as he hung his head.

Pepper stopped in the middle of her tirade. She was so not through scolding him but did he just apologize? His words shocked her. "What?"

Tony shuddered out a sigh, still refusing to meet her eyes."I'm sorry, Pep. I'm sorry for everything. You deserve better. You really do. I wouldn't blame you if you left. I'm a mess. I'm honestly surprised you stayed with me this long. Anyone else would have bailed years ago."

Pepper grasped Tony's chin in her hand and forced him to make eye contact with her. The vulnerability she saw reflected in his dark eyes made her throat tighten. He really was sorry. She suddenly felt guilty for yelling at him. She reached out to stroke his cheek, and he leaned into her touch. "Tony, I stay because I care about you. You know that, right?"

Tony closed his eyes. "Don't know why you would. I'm not a good person. Anybody else would think it's weird you would care about me at all after dealing with all of my shit."

That was so not true. Tony may be a lot of things but he was a good person. His actions proved that. "You are a good person, Tony. You are one of the most caring people I know. It's not weird. It's not weird at all." And before Tony could degrade himself further, Pepper slipped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss. She felt him resist only for a second before an armor clad arm snaked around her waist, pulling her tightly against him. As the kiss deepened, one of Pepper's hands found Tony's hair. She could play with his hair all day long. Her hands belonged in his hair. It was so soft and silky. Speaking of that, so were his lips and his tongue...oh my God. She really wished there wasn't a metal suit between them. Her hands craved to touch his warm skin, to run them all over his body...

"I think it's weird. You guys look like two seals fighting over a grape."

The familiar voice coming from nearby made them break apart in surprise, and there at the back of the roof hidden in the shadows was Tony's friend James Rhodes. They had been so engrossed in their conversation they hadn't even noticed him.

Pepper stayed silent for a moment as she tried to come up with something...anything to say to explain away what Rhodes had just seen happen between Tony and herself. After all, she had enough clean up to deal with because of this entire Expo debacle. She really didn't want to have to explain her relationship with Tony to anyone. She hadn't even had the time to figure it all out herself.

"She was saying she would quit so I..." Tony started.

"We were just..." Pepper tried to interject her own lame excuse at the same time.

Rhodes put a hand up, stopping them both. "You don't have to do that. I heard the whole thing."

"You should get lost," Tony grumbled, obviously annoyed their make out session was interrupted.

Join the club, Pepper thought.

"I was here first. Get a roof." Rhodes laughed at his own joke.

"I thought you were out of one-liners," Tony shot back.

"That's the last one," Rhodes promised.

"You kicked ass back there, by the way," Tony said to his friend.

"Thank you. You too. Listen, my car got taken out in the explosion, so I'm gonna have to hang on to your suit for a minute, okay?"

Tony shook his head. "Not okay. Not okay with that."

"It wasn't a question," Rhodes' face mask clicked down and within seconds, he was airborne leaving Tony and Pepper alone on the roof once again.

It wasn't until that moment that Pepper realized how cold she was. In spite of staring out at the leaping flames below, she still found herself shivering. "Tony, we need to get off this roof. We have to give statements to the police and that's only the beginning." She sighed. "The clean up on this is not going to be pretty. Honestly, I'm too tired to think about it now. All I want to do now is sleep."

"Let's start with the first step." Tony offered her a hand. "Trust me to get you down from the roof in one piece, Potts?"

Without hesitation, Pepper put her hand in his. "I trust you with my life. Let's get out of here."


	7. Chapter 7

By the time he and Pepper had finally gotten done giving statements to the police and making sure the entire Expo area was cleared of people, it was late. Really late. Tony could tell Pepper was exhausted by the way she was carrying herself. On a normal day she easily kept up with his strides but now she was dragging far behind. By the time they located Happy and were finally on their way to Tony's New York condo, Pepper was almost nodding off standing up. When she slid into the backseat and leaned her head back, she let out a shuddering sigh and her eyes immediately fluttered closed.

Still in his suit, Tony didn't have an easy time getting into the car. It had been badly damaged in the attack and while he could have tried to use the dismantling platform at the Expo to get it off, it probably wouldn't all have come off that way anyway. Not with all of the deep dents it in. He was going to have a fun time later trying to get it off. Well, at least he had Pepper to keep him company.

When he finally slid into the backseat next to her, a jagged piece of his armor ripped a hole in the leather seat beneath him. He clenched his teeth together. Uh oh. Happy was not going to like that. At least he hadn't heard the tear happen so he didn't have to deal with a tongue lashing about it tonight. He was too tired to deal with much of anything. He might even just sleep in the suit if it was too hard to remove.

As the car began to maneuver through the wreckage caused by the drones, Tony couldn't pull his eyes away from the mess. Holy shit. There had to be millions of dollars worth of damage and who the hell knows how many people had been injured or killed. There wasn't a final tally yet but it had to be high. He couldn't help but feel like it was all his fault. After all, he was the one who put on the damn Expo in the first place, and it was him who Hammer and Vanko wanted to destroy. Everyone else in the way was just collateral damage. Damn Justin Hammer. Hopefully that asshole would be in prison for the next seventy years.

When Happy turned a corner and Pepper's head rolled to the side coming to a rest against his right shoulder, it was enough to draw his attention away from the window. She must have been tired because she didn't wake up, even when her face ended up pressed against his suit. He smiled down at her sleeping form. God, this woman was beautiful. Yes, even when she was snoring softly and drooling oh him. He suppressed a giggle as he noticed her open mouth. Oh man. He was filing this picture of her away for future reference. She was never going to hear the end of this. "Pep?" he whispered. "Pepper?" When she didn't respond to him, he brushed some stray strands of hair from her face and placed a gentle kiss to her forehead. He could have easily lost her tonight. If he had been a few seconds later...he shuddered at the thought. He craved to put an arm around her and pull her close, but he kept his hands in his lap. After all, he was in his suit and couldn't feel her anyway, and the way Happy kept glancing at him in the rear-view mirror was making him uncomfortable. Did Pepper want Happy to know about their relationship? Actually, did Pepper want anyone to know about their relationship? And what was their relationship anyway? They had kissed several times and had even been in bed together before being interrupted but he still didn't know how she really felt about him. She admitted that she cared about him but how much? He told her he loved her. He meant it. Even if she didn't love him and only barely tolerated his ass, he would take it as long as she stayed with him forever.

It didn't take them long to arrive at his place. It had been quite sometime since Tony had been here. It would be a nice change of scene. He wasn't planning on waking Pepper up to get her inside. He would have just carried her but Happy turned around and loudly announced their arrival, making that plan completely irrelevant. Pepper's eyes flew open, and she shot up straight in her seat. Tony glared at the driver but before he could throw an insult at him for disturbing her beauty sleep, Pepper thanked him and got out of the car. Tony watched her shut the door and start up the sidewalk. He was seconds away from joining her when Happy turned to face him. The expression on the man's face was so serious, Tony paused.

"Don't hurt her."

"What?" Tony asked withdrawing his hand from the handle.

"You heard me, Boss. Don't hurt her."

"Why would you say that?" Tony's brows drew together in confusion. He was actually shocked they were having this conversation right now.

"Because I know you. I know the way you are. I've seen you go through girls like some people go through toilet paper when they have the shits."

"Thanks for the wonderful visual, Hogan. But this isn't just some girl. This is Pepper," Tony shot back.

"Exactly. This is Pepper. I know something is going on between you two. She was wearing your shirt the other day. She has a hickey the size of Texas on her neck. You know, she isn't just some girl you can use and throw away the next day."

Part of him wanted to be angry at Happy for overstepping like this but he did understand where the man was coming from. He couldn't really blame him for giving him this talk. Tony knew Happy cared about Pepper too and was only looking out for her well-being. "I'm not going to hurt her, Hogan. Okay? I love her."

That made Happy's eyebrows fly up. They were close to shooting off his forehead into the stratosphere, never to be seen again. "Holy shit. Did you just say the 'L' word?"

Tony hadn't planned on spilling his guts about his feelings for Pepper but it came out of his mouth before he could stop himself. It just felt natural to talk about. In his mind, he had absolutely nothing to hide. He loved Pepper Potts, and if given half the chance, he would shout it from the mountain tops with absolutely no regrets. He gave Happy a slight smile. "I guess I did."

"Jesus. I never thought I would live to see the day that Tony Stark says he loves a living breathing human being. I thought you reserved that word for scotch, sluts and sex." Happy gave him a giant smile, obviously very pleased with his own joke.

"Hahaha. Very funny." Tony noticed Pepper was standing at the door waiting for him, rubbing her arms and shivering, so he decided to cut their conversation short. "Pepper is waiting. Gotta go."

"Behave yourself." Happy told him as he got out of the car.

"Don't tell me what to do."

Happy blew a raspberry. "Whatever. I'll see you later." When his gaze finally left Tony's and moved to roam over the backseat that had been vacated, his eyes widened in shock. "What the hell happened to my seat?"

Now was the time to take his leave. Without giving an explanation, Tony slammed the door on Happy's question and booked it up the sidewalk.

"What were you and Happy talking about?" Pepper asked, watching the car pull away.

"How much all three of us love Black Sabbath," Tony shot back as he opened the door.

Pepper rolled her eyes. "I would punch you for that but it would only hurt my hand." When she moved to go around him and inside, her knees buckled underneath her.

On instinct, Tony's arms shot out to catch her. "Whoa. Pep, are you okay?" He pulled her close to him.

"I'm just a little lightheaded. I need to sit down for a bit. Just get me inside." Pepper allowed him to guide her over to the couch and press her down into the cushions. It remained dark in the room. The only light came from the reactor in his chest, basking her face in a soft glow.

Tony knelt down next to her, watching as she closed her eyes and sighed. The tension seemed to leak from her body as she relaxed into the couch. "Do you need some water? When's the last time you ate something?"

"Actually, now that I think about it, I don't think I ate today," Pepper admitted.

"Pepper..." Tony didn't mean to sound accusing with his tone but he couldn't help it. He couldn't help but worry about her.

Her eyes flew open, narrowing as they focused in on his face that was now only inches away from hers. "Hey, I had a lot on my mind. Most of it was because of you. I thought you were still dying, remember?"

Tony gave her a sheepish grin and a shrug as he backed off a little. Okay, so that was a good excuse not to eat. "Sorry."

Pepper rolled her eyes. "Was that your formal apology? If so, it was kind of lame. You know I even showed up to your house to check on you but Phil wouldn't let me in. I wanted to slap him for that."

Tony lifted a brow in question. "Phil?"

"Agent Coulson."

"His first name is Phil? I didn't know that."

"Shocker," Pepper shot back. "You wouldn't know your middle name either if I didn't scream it at you several times a day."

"Hey, be nice. I'm just not good with names. I don't have to be. That's why I have you. Right?"

A smile flitted across Pepper's lips and disappeared just as quickly. "One of the many reasons."

"Jarvis, you up?" Tony asked as he rose to his feet.

"For you sir, always."

"When Pepper figures out what she wants to eat, order her something and have it delivered here."

"Yes, sir," Jarvis replied.

Tony reached out to touch Pepper's shoulder, drawing her attention to his face. "Hey, Pep. You need to eat something. Jarvis can figure out which places are still open this late and get you something. Is there anything else you need from me before I get myself out of this suit and clean myself up?"

"Nope. I'm good, Tony," Pepper assured him, resting her hand on top of his and giving it a pat. "You go get that suit off."

Well, after what seemed like hours, he managed to get out of half of his suit. The bottom half wasn't going to come off without a struggle, and his poor aching hands were already wrapped up in layers upon layers of bandages after being cut up from prying the destroyed pieces of his suit off. He really did not have the energy to do much more. Plus he needed to check in on Pepper and make sure she was taking care of herself. Funny. That was normally what she did for him. There is no way he would still be alive right now without Pepper Potts there to watch over him. He smiled as he remembered how good Pepper's lips had felt on his own. If a simple kiss had felt that great, sex with her would blow his freaking mind. He could only hope he would be so lucky to get to experience that. His eyes fluttered closed and a sigh escaped his lips as he let his thoughts run wild. He was just going to rest his eyes. Just for a moment...

When Tony opened his eyes again, he found himself sprawled out on the floor of the small workshop in his penthouse, pieces of his suit strewn around the room. He must have fallen asleep. Crap."Jarvis, what time is it?" He yawned loudly and stretched his arms above his head before running a hand lazily through his hair.

"It is 12:45 pm, sir."

Not am. PM. That got his attention. He clattered clumsily to his feet almost tripping over his armored bottom half. He steadied himself with a hand on the wall. "Shit! Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"

"Both you and Miss Potts fell asleep, and I figured it would benefit you both to get some rest."

"Where is Pepper now?"

"In the shower, sir."

Okay, that was a nice image. Pepper Potts naked in his shower. The hot water from the shower-head flowing down over her freckled form. Her petite hands lathering up her wet body with soap, trailing slowly from her perky breasts down her flat stomach and lower. Much much lower, her fingers dipping into her hot core. Her head tilting back as she cried out. That's when he slipped into the shower behind her. She didn't know he was there at first. Not until his hardened manhood was pressed firmly against her backside. His body immediately began to respond to those wonderful images and that's when he remembered, the part of him he needed to complete the fantasy was stuck inside his damn suit. Shit. He almost whimpered but settled for a sigh instead. His own needs would have to wait.

He still needed to clean up anyway but that was going to be hard, half of his body still stuck in this stupid suit. Oh well. At least he could clean up his top half. And brush his teeth. That would feel nice because he could still taste last night in his mouth. Metal and smoke and blood. After cleaning up, he would get Hogan to jet him over to the Expo and see if he could find better tools to get the rest of this mess off him. His plan of action finally in place, Tony made his way to the second bathroom. While joining Pepper and bringing his fantasy to life did cross his mind, he didn't want to overstep any boundaries. He didn't really know what their relationship was yet exactly. He planned to get that figured out today.

He cleaned up as best as he could. At least he could make his face and hair look great. Those were his best features anyway. He had to cut his way out of his neoprene under-suit and when his chest was finally exposed he noticed the darkening bruises on his skin. God, did his feet hurt something fierce. He was sure he had blisters. Next he changed the bandages on both his hands and popped a few Ibuprofen in his mouth to help with the pain. There was a deep throbbing in the calf of his left leg. He should ask Jarvis to scan him for injuries. Although it couldn't be too bad because he hadn't bled to death during the night. If he made it this long without dying, another hour wouldn't kill him. He finished up in the bathroom by brushing his teeth before grabbing a t-shirt to slip on and going to find Pepper.

He found her in the living room. Tony's mouth went dry at the sight of her. It wasn't because her hair was still wet and dripping from the shower and had dampened her clothing although that was freakin' hot, but the fact she was wearing one of his old MIT shirts. Fuck me. He really should have worked harder to get the damn bottom part of his suit off. Why the hell hadn't he started with the bottom? It was a goddamn chastity belt from hell. She still wasn't aware of his presence and was trying to make herself comfortable on the couch. That's when she reached underneath a cushion and proceeded to pull out a black skimpy bra. He watched as her blue eyes widened in what was likely horror as she stared at the long-abandoned piece of woman's lingerie. He froze. Oh shit. Looks like the cleaning crew missed that one. He couldn't even claim it was hers. He definitely remembered the model that came from. She had hooters the size of bowling balls. He automatically went on the defense, putting his hands up in front of him.

"I-I don't know how it got there..."

Pepper's head snapped up at his voice, her eyes locking with his. The look she gave him told him she didn't believe what he was saying as she threw the bra to the floor.

"Okay, so I know exactly how it got there," he backtracked quickly because Pepper knew his past and there was no reason to lie about it. He didn't want to start his relationship with Pepper by lying. Even though Pepper's current gaze was anything but inviting, he sat down next to her on the couch. "But Pep, that was before. Yeah, I used to be a womanizing asshole but that was in the past. It took me long enough but I finally figured out I don't want anyone else. I want you. I told you, Pepper. I don't have anyone but you. I love you."

When he admitted his feeling for her, Pepper's body language changed, no longer closed off but open. She leaned toward him, a smile appearing on her lips before she pressed them against his ear and whispered,"I love you too, Tony." A series of knocks pulled her attention away from him and toward the door. "Food's here." She announced giving his suit-clad thigh a pat before pushing herself off the couch.

Tony couldn't believe what he had just heard. "Are you honestly walking away right now after revealing something earth-shattering like that to me?"

Pepper glanced over her shoulder, her expression mischievous. "Yep," she said popping the p and making a point to sway her hips provocatively as she strutted away from him.

Tony sank back into the couch, letting Pepper's words playback in his head. She actually loved him? It was shocking to actually hear her say those words. He didn't think anyone was capable of loving him especially not a woman like Pepper. She was perfect. He was a disaster. He proved that fact time and time again. And yet, here they were...

Pepper strolled back over to the couch, her attention completely focused on the food in her arms as she sat it on the coffee table in front of them and spread it out. To give her credit, it did smell delicious. "I got you orange chicken. You want some fried rice?"

Tony stuck his bottom lip out in a pout. "You are seriously talking about food right now?"

"Well, you did tell me to eat. Didn't you? I didn't eat last night because I passed out so I figured I should do it now." Pepper still wasn't looking at him. Why wouldn't she look at him?

"Potts, please..." Now he was whining, but he didn't care. He couldn't control himself. Couldn't she see she was torturing him with her indifference? He would die if she didn't hurry up and acknowledge him.

That did it. Finally, she caved and brought her gaze up to his. Her eyes softened as she studied the hurt on his face. He watched her playful act shatter as he pushed his lip out as far as it could go. "Oh, Tony. You want to hear me say it again, don't you?" He was the master of the puppy dog face. This he knew. He could tell it was getting to her because she climbed into his lap, wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and pressed her face into his neck, giving him several loving kisses before the words, "I love you, Tony Stark," shuddered out of her.


	8. Chapter 8

It felt good having finally having admitted her feelings to him. In fact, it felt like a thousand pound weight had been lifted off her chest. She had no idea how much it had been weighing on her all these years until she finally got it out there in the open. Holy shit did it feel amazing..or maybe that was due to the fact Tony's hands were currently underneath the back of her shirt, sliding up the length of her spine. The moan that escaped her lips was completely involuntary, and she found herself arching against him under his touch, silently begging for him to give her more. Within seconds, the food she had gotten was completely forgotten. All her thoughts were focused on Tony. Her fingers threaded into his hair as she crashed her lips against his. His mouth opened under hers, his tongue sliding against her own. He tasted so damn good and the smell of him...God, the smell of him. She was pretty sure the only things she needed to survive was oxygen and Tony Stark. His kisses alone were enough to drive her absolutely crazy. His tongue. He was so good with his tongue. She could only imagine what it would be like to experience it in other more intimate places. Their hands were all over each other, roaming, exploring, demanding.

When one of her hands roamed down over the defined planes of Tony's stomach and finally touched metal, she forced herself to break the kiss. "Is it getting crowded in there?" She gave a few knocks directly in the middle of what remained of his suit. "I should probably stop." Pepper gave his ear a gentle nip and pulled back, drawing a whimper from his lips.

"You are so mean, Potts. Do you take pleasure in torturing me?"

In response to his question, she walked her fingers playfully up his arm, secretly enjoying it when she noticed his breathing pick up further. "Maybe a little. You kind of deserve it though, don't you? After everything you put me through over the years?" Her voice was low, teasing. Her eyes met his, and the desire she saw reflected there almost made her give in right then and there. Almost. Those gorgeous brown eyes did all sorts of things to her self-control but she wasn't done having her fun with him just yet. "Do you have any idea how long I wanted you to just pull me across your desk and have your way with me?"

That got his attention. She was rewarded by him licking his lips. "Do you have any idea how long you tortured me with those heels of yours? Whenever I heard them clicking across the floor in my workshop, it drove me absolutely fucking crazy."

That Pepper had known. Even though he had tried desperately to hide it, on a few occasions she had seen the lust simmering in his eyes when they traveled from her shoes up her legs. She of course had just shrugged it off as Tony being well, Tony. But now she knew it wasn't because he simply loved a woman in heels. He loved her in heels. She reached out to run the back of her fingers along his jawline. He melted into her touch. She waited until his eyes were completely closed then she leaned closer, putting her lips next to his ear, only millimeters away from his skin. "Did you fantasize about having them digging in your back, Mr. Stark? Or maybe being high above your shoulders?"

As she pulled back from him to gauge his reaction to her flirting, his eyes flew open. His nostrils flared. Bingo. Oh yes. He was frustrated with her. "God, Pep. This is torture. Pure torture."

It was hard. So hard not to just jump him and start kissing him again. With his messy hair and kiss-swollen lips, he looked utterly delicious. "Speaking of torture, if I remember correctly, you did say something about me not being able to walk for a week when you got through with me. Was that it? You gonna be able to do that in your current predicament?"

Her question turned the smoldering look in his eyes up another notch. The smile he gave her was boarding on predatory. He was the cat. She was the mouse. She swallowed as his gaze burned into her. She was the one who was supposed to be teasing him but it seemed as if the dynamic was quickly changing. "Is that a challenge, Potts? I think you forgot I have two hands and a perfectly good mouth available."

His words made her squirm as the heat that had gathered in her belly pooled lower. Much, much lower. Oh God. Oh my God. The scales had tipped completely, and he was in charge now. This man was going to make her lose her mind with just his words. Figures. He is Tony Fucking Stark. Did she honestly expect anything less? Suddenly, Tony's mouth was on her and any quip she may have been able to come up with was lost in the feeling of his lips, teeth and tongue on her neck. The feel of his facial hair scraping against her skin made her shiver as he ran his tongue down her collarbone.

"Pepper..." The way he said her name made her want him even more, if that was even possible. Before she even realized what happened, Tony's MIT shirt she had been wearing was on the floor. She savored the look on Tony's face as he realized what was missing. "Potts, no bra?" He purred into her skin, his hands wandering up to her breasts, thumbs skimming over her quickly hardening nipples. "God, woman. You will be death of me."

Death of him...His words were merely meant as a figure of speech but they hit way to close to home for her. He had been dying. She had almost lost him. She inhaled sharply at his quip, her own hands closing over the tops of his, gripping onto them for dear life.

Tony grimaced when he stopped to think about his poor choice of words. "Shit. I'm such an ass. I'm sorry, Pep. That was the wrong thing to say. I'm not dying anymore. I'm okay. I promise." Gently, he worked to free his hands from her death grip and pulled his own t-shirt up over his head. "See? The lesions are fading. In a few days, they should be completely gone. You believe me?"

Cautiously, Pepper reached out a shaking hand to his chest, the tips of her fingers brushing over the lesions. From what she could recall from memory, they did look better. They were lighter in color and less defined. Her hand stopped over top of the arc reactor, the thing that was now keeping him alive but had almost taken him from her. It was as much as a part of him as his signature facial hair. She leaned forward, pressing a kiss to the center of his chest piece before meeting his eyes again. "I do. I believe you."

The next thing Pepper knew, she was on her back with Tony on top, the solid weight of his body pressing her down into the cushions. One of his knees was pressed in between her thighs, his mouth roaming over her jaw toward her ear. He held both her slender wrists in one of his big hands, pinning them above her head. His other hand, well, his other hand was traveling lower by the second, making it very difficult for her to think. She always knew he would be good with his hands. Those talented calloused, scared hands of his. It was surprising what precision those large hands were capable of. Such detailed work with absolutely no room for error completed perfectly. She was guilty of fantasizing about him touching her, driving her into the throws of ecstasy with only the touch of his skilled fingers.

She finds him in his workshop, the top part of his body hidden from her underneath one of his precious cars. She slowly walks over to where he is working, drawn to him by an invisible force. The sound of her heels clacking over the floor is lost in the loud thumping of his rock music. She stops next to his feet, watching as he moves his left foot in time with the music, simply waiting for him to feel her presence. It doesn't take more than a couple of seconds. The movement of his foot stops. He slides himself out from under the car and stares up at her expectantly. His hair is messy perfection. There is grease on his cheek, sweat on his brow. He looks unbelievably sexy. And completely and utterly edible. Her breathing is fast, her pulse racing as his eyes travel slowly up her body, devouring her with the intensity of his gaze. She is pretty sure she knows what he wants. She knows for a fact what she wants. They had been dancing around their feelings for each other for years. That's why she came down here today. She wants Tony Stark. And she was finally going to get him.

"Can I help you with something, Miss Potts?" He cocks his head to the side.

"Yes. I believe you can." She takes a step forward, into his personal space, not breaking eye contact.

He is still looking at her from his place on the floor. The lust reflected in his eyes only solidifies her resolve. There was no turning back now. It was now or never. "Do you need me to sign something?" Of course he would think that. She was always asking for him to sign something. Tony's hands are resting on his thighs as he waits patiently for her to answer. Her stare is finally drawn away from his face when he reaches up to absentmindedly rub at his goatee, her eyes drawn to his arms, the definition of his biceps in his wifebeater makes her mouth water.

"I do need your hands but not for a signature." Pepper paused watching as Tony's eyebrows climbed skyward as he silently pondered what she could possibly need his hands for. "Touch me, Mr. Stark."

Tony was on his knees in front of her before his name left her lips. His hands slide up her legs, drawing a throaty groan from her as they move sensually up her exposed skin, up over her knees toward the bottom of her short pencil skirt. "Potts."

The desire in his voice is enough to make her wet. By the time his fingers trace the outside of her panties, her knees are quaking. His nimble fingers ghost over the opening between her legs through the silky material of her underwear. "Tony. Tony, please." She is whimpering now, begging him to give her what she wants What she needs. But he merely smirks at her, rubbing her through the silk until she feels like her knees will give out. Finally, just when she feels like her body can't take much more, Tony's fingers finally slip into her panties and into her wetness..

Pepper's head snapped back on the couch when she felt something sink into her core, dragging her out of her daydream and back to reality. There was no need to fantasize anymore. This was really happening. Tony was hers, his practiced fingers currently deep inside of her, his thumb stroking over her clit in a way that made it impossible for her to stay still. The moan that came out of her mouth was caught by Tony as he covered her mouth with his own. His tongue stroked hers, matching the pace of his fingers. She found herself shuddering beneath him. This was better than anything her mind could have come up with. The tingling sensation in the back of her knees signaled it wouldn't be much longer and he would be prying her off the ceiling.

Tony broke off the kiss with a playful nip to her bottom lip. "Mmmmm. You're so wet, Pep."

Pepper hummed into the crook of his neck, writhing against him as his fingers continued to stroke her, driving her body toward oblivion. The feeling of her hardened nipples rubbing against his chest made her moan. "All because of you. You do this to me, Tony."

Tony growled into her skin. He gave her a few gentle bites before running his tongue up her neck to her ear. A deep sigh shuddered out of him. "Fuck, Pep. Do you have any idea what you do to me?"

Pepper's answer was a loud cry when he added another finger to the mix. She yanked her hands out of his grasp, winding them into his thick hair, forcing him down into a kiss. Even though Tony took extremely good care of his facial hair and she knew he used balm to keep it soft, she was likely going to get beard burn from this. Her skin was crazy sensitive. That was proven time and time again when she merely walked outside and got a sunburn. But this was going to be worth it. Oh, so worth it.

His name. She couldn't stop saying his name over and over. His name combined with the word please. Pleasure was building in her by the second and just when she felt like she was going to come unhinged completely, he pressed his thumb against her clit and the orgasm that followed had her coming off the couch. Tony didn't let up, fingers still inside her, mouth on her nipple suckling until she was begging him to stop. She felt like if he didn't, the pleasure coursing through her body would surely kill her.

Grinning ear to ear, Tony was clearly happy with himself. Pepper Potts was now a limp mess of the woman she normally was, and he was sitting there looking smug as fuck. Typical Tony.

Pepper sat up on the couch, letting her head fall back to rest as she tried desperately to catch her breath. She couldn't stop the smile that broke out over her face. Tony Stark had just given her the best orgasm she had in her entire life. Her knees were still shaking it from. He had curled her toes. Literally. She was pretty sure they were still curled. They may stay that way permanently. This was a feeling she could definitely get used to.

When she felt arms wrap around her hips and pull her toward the front of the cushion, she opened her eyes and found Tony kneeling in front of her on the floor, hands roaming up her legs. "Tony, what are you doing?"

"Pretty sure you are still able to walk, right?" There was a naughty glint in his eyes. Within seconds, her panties were half way across the room. "I plan on changing that."

And then Tony's mouth was pressed against her wet center and her eyes rolled back in her head, question immediately forgotten. If she was going to be completely honest with herself, which she didn't have a problem doing, she couldn't remember the last time a man went down on her. It had been what...years? The feel of Tony's tongue circling her clit, lapping at her folds, made her come completely unglued. Her hands were fisted into his thick hair, unable to stop her hips from thrusting up into the warm cavern of Tony's mouth. Her knees were quaking again, the waves of pleasure building by the second as he licked and sucked at her. "Tony!" She bit on her bottom lip to try and stop herself from screaming because God, she couldn't remember the last time anything had felt this good.

When the insistent ministrations of Tony's tongue stopped suddenly and he pulled away, she was on the verge of yelling at him but the naughty smile on his lips as he gazed up at her through his lashes made her clamp her mouth shut. "Don't hold back, Pep. I want to hear you. Come for me."

Just when she thought he couldn't possibly get any damn hotter. That sealed the deal for her. He was the hottest fucking man on the planet, and he was all hers. Wicked glint in his eyes, he leaned back in, arms wrapping tightly around her body, holding her to him as he went back to work. There was no escape from his relentless tongue as it undid her completely. Her orgasm washed over her, bringing with it a tidal wave of pleasure that made her cry out his name. Part of her was afraid she was going to squeeze the life out of Tony with her thighs but most of her was too lost in the cascade of pleasure to care. Okay, so she cared but he was Iron Man so she seriously doubted she could do much damage to him anyway. Her entire body was trembling with aftershocks. She couldn't move. Hell, she could barely breathe. She definitely could not open her eyes. "Tony..." In response, she felt him press a quick kiss to her mouth. She could feel his smile and taste herself on his lips.

"You like?" His voice set a shiver of excitement up her spine.

"That is the understatement of the century," Pepper panted, forcing her eyes open even as they begged to stay closed. Tony was sitting next to her on the couch, leaning into her side. He seemed happy. Good. "You just blew my mind, Tony Stark. I think-I think I could sleep for the next week after that."

Tony's eyes darkened as he got to his feet. "Oh no. I'm not done with you just yet. Give me thirty minutes and I'll be back to rock your world. By the time I'm done with you, you won't be able to walk a straight line. I'll keep my promise, Pepper. Don't you worry about that."

The damn arrogant expression on his face made her want to say something to him to bring him down a few notches but for the second time in less than an hour, he had rendered her completely unable to come up with an adequate comeback. Not that she really minded in the slightest. Hell, if he wanted to continue doing it in this way, she wasn't about to stop him.

He must have noticed her slight annoyance with his attitude because the way he looked at her immediately changed. No longer did playboy Tony Stark stand in front of her. He was just Tony. Her Tony. She could see the vulnerability on his face. It was something he only showed to those closest to him. "Pep, you gonna be okay while I'm gone? You're okay, right?"

Pepper couldn't speak. All she could do was give him a warm smile and nod.

Her response made him give her the cocky Stark grin she knew so well. "Out of breath already?" He set a carton of Chinese food on her lap along with a pair of chopsticks. "Better carb load then, Potts. Get ready for round two." He winked at her before turning to leave.

When the front door shut behind him, Pepper let her head fall back on the couch, a sigh shuddering out of her. Holy fucking shit. At least she had some recovery time. Never in her life had a man given her multiple orgasms. She started to believe that maybe, just maybe her body wasn't made for it but she was wrong. She was oh so very wrong. Tony had taken that theory and thrown it out the window within a matter of minutes. Thank God he had to leave for a bit because if he hadn't, Pepper was pretty sure she would have died from over-stimulation. She honestly didn't think her body could take much more but hey, at least she would have died a happy woman. She couldn't believe it. After years of repressing their true feelings for each other, they were finally together. "It's about time." Pepper smiled to herself before digging into her food.


	9. Chapter 9

Pepper Potts was currently lying naked on his couch eating Chinese food. If Tony didn't have the motivation to get out of the rest of his suit before he sure as hell did now. Pulling the shirt back over his head, he hurried down the steps toward the curb. He didn't have to wait long for Happy to pull up. He hadn't been far away when he called asking for a ride. Tony slid into the backseat, making sure to situate his butt directly on top of the tear he had made the night before. Maybe he would get lucky and Happy will have forgotten about the damage to the vehicle. Hey, out of sight, out of mind, right? He could only hope.

"Hey, Boss," Happy's voice seemed cheerful.

Tony let out the breath he had been holding in. Well, at least that meant he wasn't going to get reamed out about the damaged seat right now. Happy was in too good of a mood to start in on him. He could tell. "Hey," Tony offered him a friendly greeting in return. Hell, he was in a good mood too. Who wouldn't be feeling pretty damn good about life after giving the woman they love the most amazing orgasms of her entire life? Although he would be in a much better mood if he didn't have to actually leave the naked woman on his couch. He would much rather be listening to Pepper moaning his name over and over. God. The way she said his name. It made him hard just thinking about it.

"So?" Happy prodded.

"So, what?" Lost in his thoughts about all of the nasty things he was going to do to that woman when he got his hands back on her, Tony wasn't really paying attention to much else. Who could blame him really? She was utterly delicious and now that he had a little taste of her he wanted more. So much more. He did manage to give Happy a quick glance in the rear view mirror to see the man looking at him expectantly.

"You know..."

Tony finally caught on. He raised his brows. "Are you asking about what happened with Pepper?"

"Maaaaybe."

That was Happy for you. Always the gossip queen. "Sorry, Hogan. I don't kiss and tell."

Happy barked a laugh, directing his eyes back to the road. "Uh huh. In all of my years working for you, that's all the great Tony Stark does, brag about the beautiful women he beds."

"Hey, Pepper is different. She isn't just another woman. She's special. You know that."

Happy's eyes flicked up from the road as he gave him a genuine smile. "I know. Just wanted to make sure that you knew it too."

"Did you forget I'm a genius?"

"Sometimes you make it all too easy to forget."

Tony raised a brow. "Remind me again, who pays your salary?"

"I don't know, is it the same person who ruined my backseat?"

Tony was enjoying the exchange of playful banter when suddenly the car jolted. The distinct sound of metal chewing into asphalt alerted him to what the problem was before Happy began to curse.

"We have a flat. Perfect," Happy grumbled, swinging the car into the closest gas station. "This is just not my week. Although now that I think about it, watching Nat strip in the back of the car was the highlight of my year so far. I guess having experienced that, I can deal with a stupid tire."

That comment drew Tony's full attention. Nat stripping? He raise his brows in a silent question as he noticed Happy's delighted expression reflected in the rear view mirror. That would be a sight to see. Tony was curious as to what had been happening while he was trying to shake Rhodey and the Hammer drones and not get himself killed in the process. He was on the verge of asking Happy to give him all of the racy details but then the image of a certain naked redhead reminded him what was waiting for him back at his place. He could listen to Happy talk about Nat later. He wanted Pepper. Now.

"I would offer to help you with the tire, Hap, but I really need to get out of this suit as soon as possible. I can walk the rest of the way."

"You sure, boss?"

Tony shrugged. "It's only a few blocks. You work on getting the tire fixed. I'll get this thing off."

At least it was a nice day for a stroll although right now he would much rather be inside with Pepper. Actually, right now he would much rather be inside Pepper. Stupid suit. He picked up his pace further. He didn't want to leave her waiting too long. Well, at least he was definitely going in the right direction. Just follow the debris...He knew there had been a lot of damage but seeing it in the daylight took his breath away. Destroyed buildings as far as his eyes could see. Pieces of drones littered the ground. Flipped over burnt out vehicles lined the streets. It was one great big giant fucking mess. A lump formed in his throat when he stumbled upon a large dried spot that was obviously blood. No one could lose that amount of blood and survive. Someone had died right there. He shuddered.

This was going to take weeks of serious clean up, and it was going to take longer than that to fix the damage that was done to the reputation of the Stark Expo. Hell, he didn't know if he would ever be able to open it ever again or if he even wanted to. When the news vans came into sight, he cursed to himself, quickly ducking behind a few parked vehicles and decided to take the long away around. The last thing he needed right now was to have the media bombard him with questions and make accusations. Stark Industries did need to issue a formal statement about the incident but he would leave that up to Pepper. She was more eloquent with words than he was anyway, and wasn't likely to throw punches if someone upset her. He wasn't about to make even more work for her by knocking a reporter on their ass. As he turned the corner and the main building finally came into view, a familiar voice froze him in his tracks.

"Anthony..."

His blood ran cold. There was no way. There was just no fuckin' way. Slowly he turned his head and his fears were confirmed. Justin fuckin' Hammer was hanging out of the driver's side window of a car not more than ten feet away from him. His usual skeezy smile was plastered across his face as if he hadn't been the cause of the destruction all around him.

Justin's eyes moved over him from head to foot taking him in, the smile on his face growing larger by the second. What the hell did this bastard have to smile about? He had helped a felon escape prison and because of his actions, innocent people had died. Unlike Tony who was well aware of the blood on his hands, Justin either didn't know or didn't seem to care. His company did still manufacturer weapons, even if they didn't work half of the time. "Where's the rest of your suit, Anthony? Kind of exposed aren't you?"

"How are you out?" Tony's voice sounded strange to his own ears. His mind just couldn't process the fact that Justin Hammer wasn't behind bars. After everything that had happened the night before, he was a free man.

Justin shrugged lazily as if it was no big thing. "Guilty until proven innocent, Anthony. Would it shock you to know that I have my connections? I know plenty of judges. Plus I was told I was a low risk of fleeing and of course since my record is spotless unlike yours...five million and I'm out on bail. Crazy how the system works, isn't it? But then again five mill is a mere drop in the bucket for the great Anthony Stark. It's a little bit more to me though."

Tony did not like the crazed gleam in Justin's eyes or the strange forced laugh that left his lips. He watched as Justin's hands tightened around the wheel.

"I'm a realist, Anthony. I'm not going to lie to myself. It's over for me." He pushed his glasses up on his nose before breaking eye contact to stare straight ahead. "In reality, I'm fucked. You fucked me. Actually, your girl fucked me." His hands tightened another notch before he turned back and met Tony's eyes. Tony did not like what he saw in them. "Now I'm gonna fuck you."

The squealing of tires filled Tony's ears seconds before the car spun in his direction, jumping the curb as it barreled toward him. "Shit!" Without thinking, he threw himself to the side, rolling across the grass as the car sped through the place he had been standing seconds before. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. God. He wished he had the rest of his suit right about now. Then he could blast Justin into next week. The guy must have finally lost his shit completely because there is no way the old Justin Hammer would have the balls to actually run him down. He had finally cracked. Never before had Tony worried about Justin actually doing anything to him. Well, anything more than just annoying the shit out of him. But now, now Justin was actually set on killing him.

The damage to the hinges of his suit clad legs slowed him down drastically and that's how Justin was able to hit him. As he stumbled up trying to find his feet, the bumper of the car clipped him, knocking the wind from his lungs and his body onto the hood. Justin accelerated. Tony's fingers scrabbled against the hood as he tried desperately to find someway to hang on. He raised his head, daring to meet the driver's eyes. Oh yeah. He had definitely lost it. Hammer was laughing maniacally now, his head thrown back against the headrest as the car continued to speed up. Tony turned his head, risking a glance over his shoulder and realized the building was close now. Too close. They were going in. Shit. He tried to brace himself as the car smashed through the wall but it didn't do any good. The car stopped suddenly, sending Tony flying across the room. He landed awkwardly on his side.

His brain didn't have time register how badly he was hurt because when Justin stepped from the car, he pull out a gun and pointed it in his direction. It was the same weapon most of the insurgents from the Ten Rings had carried back in Afghanistan, a gun manufactured by Stark Industries. His eyes grew large. "Shit." Seeking cover, Tony dove into the closest row of seats, staying as close to the floor as he could while quickly crawling away from the armed man. He wedged himself under the seats, squeezing his way forward a few rows as he tried to put as much space between himself and Hammer as possible. As he army crawled underneath the rows, something sticky brushed against his forehead and he looked up. As soon as he did, he really wished he could take it back because it was gum. There was so much freakin' gum down here. Red. Yellow. Blue. Green. All the freakin' colors of the rainbow, and it was most likely stuck in his hair. Perfect. The sound of Justin's footsteps growing closer forced him to start crawling again. He just willed himself not to look. Just to go. Move. Move. Move. Keep moving.

"I'm going to kill you with your own weapon. I mean, I guess I could shoot you with one of mine but I think killing you with a gun your own company made is kinda poetic. Don't you think? You are probably wondering why I happen to have this gun on me. Well, I came down here today planning on killing you. I'm so very happy that I didn't have to look very long to find what I was looking for. You made it too easy. I kind of expected a little more from Howard Stark's son."

Before Justin had whipped out the gun, Tony was positive he had the upper hand. After all, he did box with Hogan on almost a daily basis, and Justin was not the fighting type. Tony was almost sure the man had never thrown a punch in his life. He was most likely a slapper. He was sure he could knock his geek ass out but now that the asshole had one of his weapons, how in the hell was he going to get himself out of this? He kept crawling until the end of the row he was in and then rapidly rolled out across the aisle to press himself up against a wall, hiding from Justin's line of sight.

"Annnnnnnthony!" Justin's singsong voice rang through the deserted space, echoing off the walls. The room that had held thousands of people not long before was completely empty except for the two of them. "Come out, come out where ever you are. If I'm going down, you are going down with me. And once I get done with you, I'm going after Virginia. I told her I would see her again soon. I plan to keep that promise. You have a place close to here, don't you? Is that where she is?"

Tony's hands tightened into fists. That bastard honestly thinks he would allow his smarmy ass to lay a single hand on Pepper? Tony's eyes narrowed, lip curling up in a silent snarl. Oh hell no. Over his cold dead body.

"Want to know what I'll do to her, Anthony?" Tony could tell Justin was getting closer to his hiding place. "You know, it's been awhile since I've been with a woman. How about I show her a good time before I blow her brains out? Is she a natural redhead? If anyone would know, you would, right? I mean, you two have to have been fucking for years."

Fear immediately replaced anger and clouded Tony's better judgment. Currently seeing red, he stuck his head out of his hiding place to locate Justin. He couldn't help himself. Yep. That's it. He was going to fucking kill him. He was going to put his hands around his pencil neck and squeeze until the slimy soul left his pathetic little body. Unbeknownst to Tony, he must have made some sort of noise because Justin froze in place, his eyes darting around his surroundings as he tried to locate his target. Him. Shit. Tony was sure he only growled in his head. He pressed himself back into the wall, forcing himself to stop watching the crazed man's movements and try to better conceal himself. If he did something stupid and got himself shot, he wouldn't be able to help Pepper.

"Oh yeah. That's the ticket isn't it? Virginia 'Pepper' Potts." Justin's voice and footfalls grew even closer. "Anthony Stark just can't keep his cool when someone mentions her name. If I can't find you in the next five minutes, I'm getting back in my car and turning my full attention to her. I will find her, Anthony. I will find her and when I do, I will do all sorts of unspeakable things to her, things that would make even the great Tony Stark blush before putting a bullet between her eyes."

The images that flashed before his eyes almost caused him to throw himself at the armed man in a blind rage. He would not hurt Pepper. He would never hurt Pepper. He would make damn sure of that. Don't do anything stupid, Stark. That's what he's counting on. For you to loose your cool. Wait for your moment. Just wait. Not doing anything in that moment was one of the hardest things Tony ever had to do but he knew in the end that it was the right decision. Justin wasn't likely to be good in hand to hand combat but shooting? Tony could see him having a decent shot. That on top of the accuracy of the weapon, Tony knew if he moved, he would die in a hail of bullets.

When he saw the muzzle of the deadly weapon inches from him, he made his move. Justin didn't know what hit him when one of Tony's suit clad legs kicked out, hitting its intended target. Justin yelped in fear and pain, his forearm splintering from the force of the impact, gun dropping from his grasp. Even with a broken arm, Justin was able to pull the trigger. The weapon went off, firing a spray of bullets that missed Tony by mere inches. He didn't want to think about how close he had been to dying. The expression of shock on Justin's face was wiped off by Tony's fist. His punch snapped the man's head back on his shoulders, sending his glasses flying and Justin stumbling backward. Tony was immediately on him, pinning him with his body to the floor. Hammer was of much smaller build than Tony and didn't stand a chance. When Tony cocked his fist back to hit him a second time, Justin recoiled underneath him, squeezing his eyes shut as his good arm went up in front of his face to try and block the incoming blow.

Staring down at the now trembling man beneath him, Tony wanted nothing more than to beat him within an inch of his life for threatening Pepper but he held himself back. Pre-Afghanistan Tony would have kicked the shit out of the scumbag but post- Afghanistan Tony was a little more in control of himself. After all, Hammer was going to answer for helping Vanko escape prison and for all of the people who died because of the vendetta the Russian had against Tony's father. He didn't have to take justice into his own hands this time. Tony let his arm fall to his side.

There was a million things he wanted to say to the asshole but he only spoke one word. "Phone." His voice quavered with such a bottled up rage that it made Justin fumble through his jacket pocket in search of what he wanted. Tony held out his hand until Justin placed the device in his palm. "You want to turn yourself in or do I get to do the honors?" Cringing in pain, Justin clutched his broken arm to his chest, cursing the Stark name in a vivid array of insults Tony had never heard strung together before as he dialed the police. When Justin started to struggle beneath him, Tony pointed a warning finger in his face. "You move, I punch you in the goddamn face until you black out."

"I will have my revenge." Justin's warning came out from between clenched teeth. Tony only partially heard it while he relayed the information over the phone. "Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But watch your back. I will make you suffer for what you put me through. I will destroy the Stark name."

Tony held a hand over the phone to address him. "I'm really going to miss our conversations. Guess we will have to catch up in twenty-five years or so."

"I despise you, Stark."

"The feeling is mutual, Hammer. Kiss your freedom goodbye. Police are on their way." Now that the threat had been neutralized, Tony couldn't help but taunt Justin. After all the shit the sleazeball put him through he deserved it, and he may never get this chance again. "After you get your cast, you want me to sign it?"

"Fuck you, Anthony Stark." Justin stopped struggling, letting his head rest on the floor as the approaching sound of police sirens filled the air. "Fuck you."


	10. Chapter 10

Hours later, exhausted and aching from the close encounter with Justin's car, Tony was relived when he finally found himself back at his own place. He was lucky Happy wasn't dragging his ass to the hospital but he was somehow able to convince him that his suit had taken most of the damage. Not that he was lying. It was true but he still was in some pain from being driven through a wall and thrown from the hood of a speeding car. It had been more difficult of a task to convince him not to call Pepper and to let him extract himself from what was left of his suit instead. Happy had finally agreed when Tony had reminded him there was nothing she could do but worry. After giving his statement at the police station, he was finally free again. At least Justin wasn't. His bail would soon be revoked due to his unprovoked attack. In the end, Tony was glad it was him who faced the wrath of Justin Hammer and not Pepper. If anything had happened to her, he would never be able to forgive himself.

Speaking of Pepper, she wasn't where he had left her. The couch was empty. The food abandoned. His surroundings were completely silent. The only sound, his own quick breathing. There was no way that Hammer had gotten to her. Was there? What if he had stopped here first? His heart-rate skyrocketed exponentially. He jogged to the bathroom and peaked inside. She wasn't there either. "Pepper?" He called out. No reply.

If Hammer had laid on hand on Pepper, he would kill him. He would suit up, bust his way into the jail and blast him into ashes There wouldn't even be able to identify the body by dental records when he got done with him. Just when he was on the verge of heading back to the jail to carry out his plan, he found her in his bed asleep. He leaned on the door frame of his room, panting heavily, hand resting over the arc reactor as he tried to catch his breath. "Jesus, Jarvis. You could have given me a heads up that Pepper was asleep."

"I'm sorry, sir. I was trying not to interject for fear of waking Miss Potts. She seemed to need the rest. You on the other hand look to be in need of medical attention. You are bleeding."

Tony brushed off Jarvis' words with a wave of his hand. "I'm fine, Jarvis. I'm not going to the hospital. It's just a scratch." He ran his fingers across his forehead and sure enough, they came away with fresh blood but it wasn't enough to worry him. "I'll just take a shower and wash it off. I will be fine, Jarvis. Stop being a mother hen."

Even though Jarvis was use to him outright ignoring his advice, Tony could almost hear the sigh in the AI's next words. "Very well, sir. There will be no further clucking from me."

Tony chuckled at Jarvis' obvious frustration with him, glancing over at Pepper's sleeping form one last time before heading for the bathroom. He showered quickly, watching as his blood swirled around the drain. He hurried through his usual routine, cutting his bathing time in half because he really did not want to keep Pepper waiting.

After drying himself off, he stopped and examined himself in the mirror. The wound on his forehead was going to need more than a bandage. It was bordering on the edge of needing stitches but he was pretty sure it would heal fine with some tightly applied butterfly sutures. He focused on that injury first. Once it was taped up and the blood was no longer running down his face, he could focus on cleaning up the rest of his face. Most of the injuries were small cuts and abrasions but there was a big lump on the left side of his cheek and that same eye had swelling. It was going to be a nice purple shiner. There would be no hiding that thing even with makeup. He sighed knowing that Pepper was going to freak out. He left the bathroom dressed in sweatpants and a black tank and found the occupant of his bed hadn't moved.

She looked so peaceful, sleeping with her knees bent, on her side in his oversized MIT t-shirt. It made her seem much smaller than she actually was. He almost didn't want to disturb her. Almost. But he had made her a promise and he planned on keeping it. Carefully, he lowered himself down onto the bed next to her, being careful not to wake her as his eyes slowly traveled over her body, starting at her head and traveling south, stopping at her bare legs. Those legs...soft white milky skin, too damn tempting not to touch. He propped himself up on an elbow before reaching his free hand out and running his fingers from the back of her knee gently up her leg, seeing how long it would take for her to start to respond to his touch. It didn't take more than a few seconds, and she was shuddering, pressing herself back into his solid form to rub her ass against him. Holy shit. Tony definitely appreciated the attention she was giving him, and if she was awake like he was, he knew she could feel it. He couldn't stop himself from pressing the nose into the back of her neck to inhale her intoxicating scent. If he wasn't turned on before, he sure as hell was now.

"Mmmmmm. Hey there," Tony groaned into Pepper's skin as her hand slid into his hair, pulling gently at the short hair at the nape of his neck. He had to focus on stopping his eyes from rolling back into his head. He still wasn't used to her touching him intimately like this. It was heavenly. The only time she would actually touch him before the other day was on accident...but wait, now that he really thought about it, maybe it really wasn't so accidental after all. It usually happened when she was trying to adjust his tie or was attending to his wounds. Her fingers would always find a way to rub against his exposed skin, making him shiver. God. Even though he had been touched by hundreds of women, this specific woman's touch drove him absolutely fucking crazy.

"Hey, yourself," Pepper's reply came out as more of a shuddering sigh than anything else. He couldn't see her face but knew she was smiling. Oh yeah. She was most definitely smiling. "Crap. I took a shower, made a couple of phone calls and planned to wait for you back here. I must have fallen asleep after that. This was a great way to wake up."

The fact she was so tired after he got through with her was kind of flattering to him. Tony couldn't help but laugh. "Did I wear you out, Pep?" His fingers were still ghosting lightly over the top of skin of the back of her bare legs. He was holding himself back from having them wander up into the panties she was wearing to bury them into hot core. He did however, allow them to wander up under the back of her shirt to grab her sweet supple ass and was rewarded when she squeaked loudly. "Did you need a power nap to recharge after our session earlier? Completely understandable. I am like a machine after all." He gave her another firm squeeze.

Letting out a squeal, she flipped over toward him, playfully slapping at his hands but when she focused in on his face, the playfulness was immediately gone. He knew that look. Shit. He knew he should have had Jarvis black out the windows and simply jumped her before she could see his newest injuries. "Tony!" Her voice held worry as she reached out to graze her fingers over one of the new bruises on his cheek before moving up to touch the butterfly sutures he had applied to the wound on his forehead. "These weren't here earlier. What happened?"

Tony took her hand in his, pressing a gentle kiss to her fingertips as he sat up. He didn't like it when she got upset. He had to try and keep her calm. "Pep, don't freak out."

That did it. His words made Pepper shoot up straight in bed next to him. Great. She was freaking out. He really should work on choosing his words more wisely. "Tony..." Her hands were on both sides of his face tipping it to one side and then the other as she checked for any further injuries she may have missed.

"I'm fine, Pep. Really." He grabbed her hands to stop her examination and gave them a reassuring squeeze. "As you can see I got the suit off. Are you ready for round two?" He wagged his brows but Pepper wasn't having it, yanking her hands out of his, her frustration growing by the second.

"Tony." Uh oh. There was the "you better tell me now or face the consequences" tone he was oh-so familiar with.

Tony put his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay. So, on my way to the Expo I ran into a little trouble." He began to drum his fingers on the arc reactor, a nervous tic of his. "Justin Hammer to be exact."

Pepper's mouth dropped open. It was obvious she was not expecting that. "What? But he was arrested."

"Yes, and then he got out on bail." His fingers tapped faster. "He tried to run me down with his car."

Pepper's hand went up to cover her mouth.

"And when that didn't work, he tried to shoot me."

Tony didn't think Pepper's eyes could get any bigger than they already were. He was wrong. "Oh my God. Tony, why didn't you call me?"

Okay so looking back on it now, maybe he should have gave her a courtesy call but he couldn't do anything about it now. Tony shrugged trying to play it off as being no big deal. "What would you have been able to do besides freak out? The car had a flat. There was no way for you to get to me anyway. I didn't want to worry you." When he noticed her eyes glistening, he cupped her face in his hands, wiping the escaping tears away with his thumbs. "Oh no, Pepper. Please don't cry. I'm here now. I'm okay."

"He could have killed you." Pepper's hands were wandering all over him now as she searched for more damage. He would have enjoyed it if she hadn't been so upset. "Tony, you could have died."

"But I didn't. Ah." He winced, inhaling sharply between his teeth when Pepper's fingers brushed across his abdomen. Shit. It did hurt more than he originally thought.

Even though he tried to hide it, Pepper knew he was injured. She met his eyes. "Take off your shirt."

Tony gave her a lopsided grin. "So bossy, Potts. Can't wait to have more Tony Stark, eh? Slow down. I want to savor this moment... "

Pepper's brows pulled together at his suggestion, her frown deepening. Oh crap. All he was doing was making her more angry. Maybe he should work on keeping his mouth shut. "Scan him for injuries, Jarvis," she demanded.

"Yes, Miss Potts."

"Don't do it, Jarvis," Tony countered.

"Scan canceled," the AI confirmed.

Pepper was openly glaring at him now. The red flush of anger was creeping up her neck to flush her cheeks. Well, he most definitely was not getting laid now. "Then take off your shirt, Mr. Stark. Take it off now or I'll do it for you, and I promise it will not be a pleasurable experience."

Ah crap. She was calling him Mr. Stark. There were only two reasons she ever did that. She was either trying to remain professional (and losing) or she was straight up pissed. There was no question in his mind which of those moods she was currently in. He had lost and he knew it. There really wasn't any reason to try and keep stalling. It was only making her angrier. She would figure out something was up if he tried to keep his shirt on while they were fooling around.

Without any further prodding, he took a deep breath and pulled off his shirt to reveal his chest. The car had left quite the array of bruising on his torso. It did hurt a bit when he breathed. If he was being completely honest with himself, if he hadn't had the suit on the lower part of his body, he would likely have damage to his internal organs. Instantly, the glistening in Pepper's eyes was back, and Tony felt like someone had kicked him in the gut. Seeing Pepper in pain because of him was worse than getting hit by a car. "This. This right here is why I didn't want to show you."

Pepper turned her face away from him. "You promised me, Tony. You promised me no more secrets."

Shit. She had him there. He did promise that. "You're right. I did, but..." A finger to his lips stopped him mid-sentence.

She had turned back to face him. "In order for a relationship between us to work, you have to tell me things even if the things you tell me will upset me. You can't keep trying to hide things from me. It makes me not want to trust you." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before continuing. "Do you even want this to work? Do you even want to be with me? If you don't, tell me now and things can go back to the way they were before. We can just pretend none of this ever happened." Her eyes searched his face for an answer. When he took longer than she thought he should to answer, she turned from him and tried to rise from the bed.

The questions she posed were like a slap to his face. That was the only reason he hadn't answered right away. Did she really think he didn't want her...that he would want things to go back to the way they were? There was no way he would be okay with things going back to the way they used to be. It would be torture. Pure fucking torture. He had hid his true feeling from her from too long. He loved her and he was going to make damn sure she knew it.

As Pepper tried to move away, his hand shot out, grabbing her arm and pulling her back onto the bed. He thought she would struggle but she only melted into his embrace as he pulled her tightly against him, burying her face into his neck. "Of course, I want this to work, Pepper." He rubbed her back in soothing motions. "I want this to work more than anything. None of this matters if you aren't by my side."

Pepper sighed against his skin. "Then why, Tony? Why do you try to keep things from me?"

"To protect you, okay?" The words were out of his mouth before he even knew he had said them. "I just...just the thought of you suffering because of me...it tears me apart."

When Pepper finally pulled back to gaze into his eyes, Tony knew she was no longer mad at him. The look she gave him was almost enduring. "Tony, when you love someone you open yourself up to being hurt. It's part of the deal. I know that. It's time you figured that out too." She grabbed his hands, interlacing their fingers together. "But the risk is worth it to me. You are worth it to me."

"God, Pep." He raised her hand to rub it against his cheek and she shivered. "You are worth it to me too. It's just...when Hammer threatened to hurt you, the mere thought of anything happening to you was enough to make me absolutely crazy. I would die to keep you safe. And there's the crux of the matter. That's why I didn't tell you I was dying. I was trying to protect you. I just want you to be happy."

Now Pepper was smiling at him. "You do make me happy."

Tony cocked a single brow at her, surprised at her answer. "I do. Really? Are you sure because I'm pretty sure you only really like me 12% of the time."

That made Pepper laugh. God, did he love her laugh. She gave him a gentle shove. "Give yourself a little more credit than that. Yes, you do frustrate me a lot of the time but you do make me happy." Pepper pressed a kiss to his lips, leaning forward to run her hands up his chest. "God, Tony. You really do. Even when I want to strangle you for being an inconsiderate ass, I still love you. I will always love you."

Her words made his stomach flutter. He didn't think of himself as a sentimental man but damn when it came to Pepper, he obviously was. That woman has the ability to make the great Tony Stark feel like a lovesick teen. He pressed his face into her hair. "God, I love hearing you say that. I don't think I'll ever get sick of it. In fact, I think I could get used to hearing it for the next forty to fifty years." As soon as those words, left his lips, he felt Pepper tense in his grasp and then quickly pull back from him. He was suddenly worried. Oh shit. What did he do? Fix it. Fix it now, Stark. Don't blow the best thing that's ever happened to you. "What? What did I say?"

But when he looked into her bright blue eyes, he knew Pepper wasn't angry or sad. She was happy. The tears in her eyes had to be those of joy. The smile filling her beautiful face was contagious and he found himself returning it. "God, I love you, Tony Stark. I truly do." And she leaned forward to press her mouth against his.


	11. Chapter 11

Tony Stark. What in the hell was she going to do with this man? Kiss him senseless apparently. That was first on her agenda, leading up to the grand finale of fucking him senseless, something, if she was being completely honest with herself, she had wanted to do for years. This man frustrated her to no end but there was absolutely no one else she loved more than him. The astronomical range of emotions she had for him was unlike anything she had ever felt before. No one else on earth could manage to make her so angry and yet turn her on just by the way he said her name. This man had basically just confessed to wanting to be with her for the rest of his life. Tony Stark, one of the most eligible bachelor's on the planet known for never sleeping with the same woman twice, had just committed to her and her alone. It made her want him even more. If that was even possible at this point.

Not removing her mouth from his, Pepper pushed Tony gently back onto the mattress and pile on pillows at the top of the bed, making sure to support most of her weight to ensure she didn't apply too much pressure to his newest injuries. All of her five senses where in overdrive. It had been so long since she had been with anyone intimately and now the man under her was the person she had secretly wanted for so long. He tasted like spearmint and smelled like heaven.

"Let me know if I'm hurting you," Pepper whispered against his lips, giving him one last long kiss ending in a playful nip to his bottom lip before pulling back, sitting up to straddle his hips and stare down at him in awe. He looked peaceful for once in his life. He was usually a ball of endless energy, never stopping for anyone or anything, always working on creating something or solving some problem but now, at the moment, he seemed content. Pepper could tell he was focused on keeping his breathing under control. His eyes were now closed. His thick lashes fluttered against his cheeks. His totally kissable lips were just begging her to cover them with her own. He was so beautiful. Even when he was littered with injuries. Gently, she traced over the perfectly sculpted lines of his goatee with the tips of her fingers before reaching out to brush them over his newest battle wounds courtesy of Justin Hammer. She hated that this was now normal for him. She hated seeing him hurt. But the world would always need Iron Man. She would just have to learn to accept it because she didn't want to...no, she couldn't live without him.

Tony shivered under her touch. "You could never hurt me, Pep. Unless of course you decided to leave." When he opened his eyes and Pepper saw the raw vulnerability there, it broke her heart. He didn't show this side to many people and the fact she was one of the few he actually opened up to made her entire being swell with love for him. Yes, him being Iron Man scared the shit out of her. She was terrified that one day he leave on a mission and never come back. Even though part of her wanted to run away and not deal with the roller-coaster ride of emotions having a superhero boyfriend would likely bring, she knew in the end it really didn't matter if she was with him or not. She would worry all the same so she chose him. Not that she truly felt like it was a choice to begin with. He was the center of her universe, and he knew it.

The deep emotions she saw reflected in his eyes drew her to him. She leaned back down, situating herself on her forearms on either side of his head, pressing her face into his neck, nuzzling him affectionately. The tickle of his facial hair against her skin was comforting to her. "I'm here, Tony. I won't leave you," she promised, running her fingers through his damp hair. She felt his arms wrap around her almost possessively. "I've got you." She didn't know what caused Tony to get so emotional all of a sudden but it did hurt her to think he honestly believed she would leave him after everything that they had been through together. Didn't he know? If she was going to leave, she would have years ago.

"Sorry to ruin the mood," Tony mumbled into her hair, his arms tightening around her. He shuddered out a sigh. "I just-this doesn't feel real, you know? I just feel like this is only a dream, and I'm going to eventually wake up with a bad hangover and things will be back to the way things were before. I'll only be Mr. Stark the man you are forced to put up with and only barely tolerate, and you'll be Miss Potts the responsible one, always dodging my advances, always just out of my reach. I don't want things to go back to the way things were."

At his admission, Pepper chuckled lightly, pressing a loving kiss to his jaw. "This is real, Tony. Believe it or not, I don't want things to go back to the ways things were either."

"You don't?"

Pepper suppressed a giggle. Who knew *the* Tony Stark could be so insecure? Well, she did but it definitely wasn't the Tony Stark depicted to the public. He came off as the most confident person in existence but a lot of that was just a front. Underneath it all, he was just like everyone else. He wanted to feel accepted and loved and Pepper knew he felt like he didn't deserve any of it. She wanted to shake some sense into him. Well, maybe she couldn't shake it into him but there were other more fun ways she was thinking about doing it. That's when she decided she was taking the reigns from him. This was going to be her show now.

"You are so clueless. You are lucky you are adorable. I mean, things were less complicated back before we admitted our feelings for each other but this..." Pepper paused as she nibbled and kissed her way up his neck, enjoying the feel of his body trembling underneath her. "This is so much better. Wouldn't you agree?" And then she bit down on his ear and his hips rose off the bed making her laugh again.

"Yep. Agreed. Absolutely. You have never been more right." His words all tumbled out in a run on sentence as she sucked on his lobe. One of her hands roamed down his bare chest, over the reactor, past his well defined abs and lower, much lower until she cupped him through his pants and gave him a gentle squeeze making his words stop completely as he inhaled sharply through his teeth. His eyes rolled back into his head. "Oh, God."

"Mood still ruined?" Pepper asked, rubbing him through his clothing, a smile creeping across her face when she felt his growing interest in his pants. "It doesn't feel ruined to me."

Letting out a growl, Tony tried to take control of the situation like Pepper thought he might but she just pushed him back into the pillows. "Oh no. This is my birthday present to you, Mr. Stark, so you just lie back like a good little birthday boy and take what I give you. Unless of course you want to unwrap me. I guess I'll allow that. Maybe if you are a good boy, I'll give you a birthday spanking."

All of the fight drained out of Tony at her words. He swallowed thickly, practically panting as he gazed at her with lustful eyes. "Jesus, Pepper."

Pepper could finally admit it to herself. Bossing Tony around totally turned her on. Tony didn't listen to many people so the fact that he bowed to her will, God. It made her horny as hell. She wasn't going to need much if any foreplay after this. Crossing her arms and grasping the bottom of the shirt she was wearing, she pulled it up over her head before tossing it to the floor, exposing her breasts to wide, hungry eyes. Now she was straddling Tony Stark wearing nothing but a pair of thin panties. How many woman fantasized about this very thing happening to them and here it was actually happening to her?

When he reached up to touch her, she pushed his eager hands back down to his sides. "Nah uh, Mr. Stark. You can look but you can't touch." Tony whimpered as Pepper worked her fingers under the waistband of his pants (not at all shocked by the fact he wasn't wearing anything underneath them) and slid them off before climbing back on top of him. "At least not yet. Not until I what I want."

Tony swallowed. "And what is it you want?"

Pepper let the playfulness she was feeling spread across her face in a smile that was absolutely naughty. "Payback for you not being up front with me earlier."

His dark eyes widened in anticipation. He knew he was in for it now but from the expression on his face, he was really looking forward to it. He licked his lips hungrily. "Pepper?"

"Don't worry. I'll make sure we both enjoy this," she purred as she slid down him once again, keeping her eyes locked with his as she slowly approached her target, wanting to watch his reaction as he realized what she was about to do.

"Fuck." His chest was heaving now. His skin flushed with desire. Pepper could see his pulse wildly thrumming in his neck from where she was, her face inches from taking him into her mouth. Finally she allowed her gaze to shift its focus from his face onto his cock.

Now while she had obviously seen Tony naked before on many different occasions, there were still YouTube videos of him online after all, she had never seen him this up close and personal before. Usually, when she had to pull his naked ass off the floor after he had passed out from puking his guts out, she would just avert her gaze as she threw a robe around him and ushered him to bed. In the past, she had walked in on him when he was with his "girls" but luckily for her, the only thing she had gotten a glimpse of was his naked and nicely sculpted ass. Like she needed anything else to fantasize about when it came to Tony. If she had seen his size, she would have never been able to get any work done.

Tentatively, she reached out to curl the fingers of one hand around his quickly hardening shaft while the other went to cup his balls, massaging them gently. That made him groan loudly. Oh yeah. She was going to have so much fun doing this. With a grin and reestablishing eye contact, she leaned down taking him slowly into her mouth, swirling her tongue around the tip several times before sliding her lips down over him, easily taking him all in. Another thing not many people knew about Pepper Potts, she could deep throat with the best of them.

"Holy fuck." While sucking on Tony's dick was indeed glorious, the surprise in his voice was a reward in itself. "Oh God." It seemed like he wanted to say more but was unable to do so, clearly thoroughly enjoying the attention he was getting as she sucked and licked and stroked him into ecstasy. Tony was not a quiet lover. Oh no. He moaned. He groaned. He cursed and told her what he liked. And God, Pepper loved every second of it. His voice. She couldn't get enough of his voice. It was one of her favorite sounds.

He was close now. She could tell. He was so very close to finishing, and she just couldn't have that. Not when they had only barely begun. So even while sucking Tony off would prove to be quite satisfying, she forced herself to stop before she really wanted to, taking her time massaging him with her tongue as she withdrew her mouth, leaving him hanging. Figuratively and literally.

"Pep..."

Pepper smiled mischievously at Tony's tone. He was frustrated. Good.

"Pep-Per!" He was clearly trying to get her attention now.

"Yes, Tony?" she purred innocently, keeping one hand wrapped around his erection, her lips hovering just above where he clearly wanted her. "Did you want something?" she asked, blowing a stream of cool air over his cock. She only barely suppressed the giggle that threatened to burst out of her when Tony growled and bucked, his body shaking with the need for release. He deserved to be teased a little bit for what he did.

"You know what I want," Tony all but whimpered, begging her with those crazy expressive eyes of his.

God. He was going to break her, and she couldn't let that happen. Not yet. Pepper pulled her gaze away from his before she gave in, humming in agreement as she stroked him from base to tip several times. He was so hard in her hand. Hard and yet his skin was so velvety soft."You want my pretty little mouth around your hard throbbing cock. Is that what you want?" She flicked her tongue over the tip, tasting the saltiness of him before bringing her eyes back up to meet his.

Tony's mouth dropped open. His eyes growing wider than she had ever seen them as he blinked at her. "Holy shit, Pepper."

Yep. There was the reaction she was looking for. In all of their years together, Pepper was almost positive he had never heard her talk in such a manner. While working for him from day one, she had always kept it professional. She had to because well, most of her didn't want to keep it professional and while sleeping with Tony would have surely been amazing, it would have likely compromised her job and the friendship they had built over the years. But now that things had finally changed, she could let the tightly held grip she had on her professionalism slip, coming to the quick realization that shocking the shit out of Tony Stark with dirty talk was both erotic and fun. She was definitely going to do this more often.

"Or maybe..." Her hands made their way up his muscular thighs as she crawled back up his body, making sure to drag her nipples over him as she went. He groaned as she carefully lowered herself closer to him, his manhood pressing firmly against her stomach."You want stick your giant dick in my tight wet pussy and fuck me."

"That's it." Pepper squeaked in surprised as Tony flipped her onto her back, pinning her to the mattress as he pressed open-mouthed kisses to face and ears, his mustache tickling her skin and making her squirm beneath him. His breath was hot against her neck. "This birthday boy is ready to have his cake and eat it too."

Pepper couldn't help but laugh at his eagerness. "You are so impatient. You know that, right?"

"Hey, I didn't get my cake the other night. It was red velvet with buttercream frosting but you know, I think this right here was worth waiting for. I've had to wait forever for this." When Tony's fingers slipped between her legs into her panties and into her, she gasped into his mouth. Pepper was expecting a bit more than a few thrusts so when he withdrew, she almost whimpered at the loss of contact but then he brought his fingers to his mouth and sucked them clean. "And it tastes better too."

It was Pepper's turn to be shocked. "Tony."

Tony chuckled deeply. "I can play dirty too, Potts, but I'm pretty sure you knew that already," he said before leaning down to press a kiss to her lips. He stripped her of her underwear, and suddenly there were no barriers left between them, physical or emotional. It felt so good to finally be with him in this way. This had been way too many years coming. His mouth was all over her, his hands roaming over her quivering body. She let herself explore him as well, hands moving up his biceps and up over his shoulders to his back, feeling his muscles working under his skin. If she was a cat she would be purring as he lowered his body fully against hers. A second later, Tony winced, jerking away from her. From the tightness in his facial features, Pepper could tell he was in pain.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he said through clenched teeth, breaking eye contact as he tried to compose himself for her.

Pepper reached out to brush the hair from his forehead. "Tony, you don't have to pretend. Not with me. You are clearly not fine. You need time to recover. This can wait..."

"No. No, it can't." And then his mouth was on hers again, tongue demanding entrance to her mouth as he thrust into her.

Anything Pepper had been about to say died on her lips as Tony filled her in more ways than one. She gasped into his mouth at the sudden fullness she felt, clutching tightly to his body to ground herself before remembering about his injuries and loosening her grip. His tongue stroked hers for several seconds before he broke away, pulling back slightly. The arc reactor rested in between her breasts casting a light over her face as he hovered over her, studying her reaction.

"Are you okay?" Tony whispered, asking her the same question she had only moments before, reaching out to stroke her hair lovingly.

Seeing him act so concerned about her well being was endearing. He was the one who had just been hit by a car and almost shot, and here he was worrying about hurting her. As an answer, she wrapped her long legs around his lower back, hooking her ankles as she drawing him in closer. "I'm more than okay. How about next time I wear heels?"

"Done deal," Tony agreed, nodding, his eyes shimmering with delight. "We are definitely doing that. But now..." He leaned down to nibble his way down her body and Pepper's heart rate picked up when she felt a touch of his tongue."I'm about to get back to doing you."

Pepper couldn't remember the last time she had laughed so much especially while in bed. She is pretty sure she had never laughed while in bed with someone before but being with Tony made her feel giddy. It was a great feeling to be comfortable enough with someone to joke around while naked. "You know just what to say to make a girl weak in the knees. You are just bursting full of romance today."

When Tony met her eyes, the laughter quickly died on her lips as she noticed the sudden seriousness in them. He cupped her face in his hands, making it impossible for her to look away from him. "Pepper, I know I've put you through a lot. I want to make it all up to you so badly but I know I never can. There isn't enough time in the world to undo the things I made you deal with. I know you don't have a lot of good reasons to trust me but I hope you believe me when I say you are it for me. I am a one woman man now because I am truly and utterly in love with you. I know I'm a selfish bastard, but God, Pep, if you would agree to stay with me, it would make me the happiest man on the planet. If soulmates exist, you are mine, Virginia Potts. You have me forever."

Tears streamed out of Pepper's eyes but Tony leaned forward and kissed them away before they could get too far down her cheeks. "You are mine too. I'm yours." Was all she could manage to say without sobbing. And to think she had almost lost him. Shivering at that thought, she pulled him closer. "I need you. Make love to me, Tony."

Tony's eyes were shimmering with tears but he blinked them back before they could fall. "With pleasure."


	12. Chapter 12

Tony shivered. He honestly could not believe it. He was actually inside of Pepper Potts. If someone would have told him a few days ago that he would be having sex with the woman he fantasized about on a daily basis, he would have laughed in their faces. I mean, it had taken what...almost a decade for them to finally admit their feelings for each other? They had both played their game of avoiding their true feelings for so long he never actually thought they would get to the end of it. He had begun to view it like starting a game of Monopoly and realizing four hours later and at three in the morning that nobody is even close to winning and just giving up. Although, he was almost positive he would have never given up on her. Screw Monopoly. Metaphorically speaking of course. Now screwing Pepper...that he was actually doing that at the moment. Literally. He let out a soft chuckle at the thought and lowered his face to Pepper's neck to give her a gentle kiss.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing." Tony decided telling her about his Monopoly analogy might ruin the mood so he kept it to himself. "Just glad we finally got here, is all." That most definitely was not a lie. When his lips lingered just above the pulse point on her neck for longer than necessary, he felt Pepper huff indignantly, and he was barely able to suppressed his grin.

"You know I love you, but could you stop over-analyzing everything the way that you do and start moving, Stark?"

Tony felt her hands grip his ass out of pure desperation trying to urge him into motion. He chuckled at her impatience, flicking his tongue out to taste her skin. She tasted like heaven. The woman underneath him trembled as he lazily licked his way up her neck to her ear to whisper, "I thought this was my present, Pep? Maybe I want to savor this moment. It's been a long time coming." Then he pulled back and gave her his one hundred-watt Stark smile of mischief.

Letting out a growl of frustration, Pepper threw her head back into the pillows, not even trying to hold back the glare she was giving him. That irritated gaze made the most sensitive part of him twitch with desire. When she was upset with him, she was fucking hot as hell. Pepper was a firecracker and it was all too easy to light her fuse. He knew exactly how to set her off. "Speaking of a long time coming..." she started.

He pulled all the way out and thrust into her a second time, fully sheathing himself in her. Whatever she had been about to say was cut off with a loud squeak, and he savored the fact the annoyed look on her face was immediately gone and replaced with that of delight. "What was that you saying, Pep?" Tony asked trailing kisses up her jaw to her ear where he bit down on her lobe before tracing the shell with his tongue. "Something about coming?" He blew a stream of air into her ear and felt her inhale sharply. All he got out of her in response was a string of unintelligible mumbo jumbo that made him laugh as she threaded her fingers through his hair and pulled at it gently. He groaned at the sensation and felt those long legs he loved so much tighten around him, urging him to go deeper. He wasn't about to deny her now.

She was so wet. So warm. So tight. So perfect. He buried his face into her neck, letting her comforting scent permeate his every cell as he moved inside her. The feel of her nails scraping over the skin on his back and her hips rolling up to meet his was going to push him over the edge faster than he really wanted to go. Although, this was definitely only round one. He planned on keeping his promise of her not being able to walk when he was through with her. He usually had a pretty quick recovery time anyway and with Pepper, he wouldn't be surprised if it was even shorter than usual. He wasn't going to stop until they went twelve full rounds or he got a TKO where only he could be the one who could determine if she would be allowed to tap out.

"Tony..."

Her voice brought him back. It was what always brought him back. The breathy way she said his name made him shudder with pleasure. He could listen to her say his name all damn day long and never grow tired of it.

"Tony..."

He nuzzled her cheek, making sure his facial hair tickled her overly sensitive skin. "Yeah, baby?"

"Talk to me. I want to hear your voice."

He quirked his brows, actually a little shocked by her admission. He was almost sure she was most happy when he kept his mouth shut and now she was asking for him to speak? "My voice?"

Pepper pushed him back in order to meet his gaze. The flush on her cheeks and desire reflected in her eyes made him swallow deeply. The way she was looking at him could have gotten him off in itself. She reached out to run her fingertips lovingly down his cheek. He leaned into her touch as if he was unable to get enough of it. He was pretty sure her touch was his new drug of choice. "Yes. Your voice, Mr. Stark. Your voice gets me tingling in all the right places."

His eyebrows shot skyward in surprise before pulling together in confusion. "Seriously?" Wow. He had no idea. If only he had known this months ago. He so would have used this to his advantage. The Pepper Potts was turned on by the sound of his voice? God, is that why she always bantered with him...because she loved hearing him talk? Fuck was that arousing to think about.

She smiled warmly at him, reaching out to brush his sweaty hair back from his forehead in a tender gesture he had always loved. "Don't be so shocked. You already know you are a good looking man, Mr. Stark. Is it so hard to believe your voice alone is enough to make my panties wet? You honestly wouldn't believe the number of times I've had to change my underwear after a board meeting because of you and your sexy as hell voice. You could be reciting pi for all I care."

His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed thickly. Oh God. Holy fucking shit. Because of her admission, he was going to lose it right there like an inexperienced teenager. "Pepper," he growled lustfully into her ear as he sped up his thrusting. Her happy moans of pleasure in response was music to his ears. This woman was going to drive him absolutely fucking crazy and he would gladly lose his mind for her."My God, Pepper. What did I do to deserve you?" His mouth found hers and he thrust his tongue into her mouth, devouring her for several long seconds before ending his kiss with a nip to her bottom lip. "You drive me crazy, Virginia Potts, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Would you believe the sound of your heels announcing your approach got me hard every single time? Do you know how difficult it is to design tech with a raging hard on? Hell, it was hard to even remember my own name."

At his admission, Pepper could barely form words as she tossed her head from side to side, moaning and gripping onto him for dear life. Now he was the one driving her crazy. Seeing her lose her mind like this was a thing of beauty. The Pepper he was familiar with was always in control. That's just who she was. She didn't like giving up the reigns to anyone because she always got things done. Watching her lose it because of him, only drove him to fuck her harder. God. He could get use to this. He really could.

The feeling of her walls tightening around his dick and the way she was writhing underneath him was a signal she was close. Very close. "That's it, Pep. Let go. I want to hear you. I need to hear you. Come for me." His mouth latched onto her right breast, sucking her pebbled nipple into his mouth. That's when she lost it completely, arching upward as she came hard against him, hands buried into his thick hair as she shouted his name over and over. As she was coming back down from her high, he continued to move inside of her, trying to draw out her pleasure as long as possible, pressing kisses to her face as she focused on slowing her breathing.

He wasn't far from finishing himself but was trying his damnedest to hold off because he wanted to make her come at least one more time...two times if he was really lucky before finishing himself. But it had been so freaking long since the last time he had been with someone. It had been before Afghanistan and before that, he usually brought a girl home several times a week. More than that if he was done with a project. Less than that if he was in the middle of one. Since coming back, the only attention his dick had gotten was from his own hand.

Even so, he believed himself to be a master over his own body. Mind over matter. All he had to do was just think about something else, and he would last. Think about his suits or boxing with Happy or God forbid, Justin fucking Hammer, but when Pepper grasped his face in between her hands, establishing eye contact once again and the words, "I love you, Anthony Edward Stark," left her lips, nothing he could think of could stop himself from tumbling over the edge as his own orgasm slammed into him. Now it was his turn to call out her name as he emptied himself into her. Just when he thought it was over, another wave hit him and threw his head back. Holy fucking shit. The orgasm seemed to go on forever. Was it only his imagination or was his heart stuttering? Oh God. What if the arc reactor was failing because the effects of the palladium poisoning were worse than he originally calculated? That wasn't likely but if he died now at least he would die a happy man. When the waves of his release finally dissipated, he collapsed into a boneless shivering heap onto Pepper's chest, trying his hardest to regulate his own breathing while not crushing the woman underneath him.

"Love you too, Virginia 'Pepper' Potts," he mumbled against her cooling skin when he was finally able to form words again. Only this woman could make his IQ decrease by a hundred points by giving him the best orgasm of his life. He rolled off of her and onto his side where he pulled her against him. He shuddered as she traced around the outside of the reactor. "I was planning on a longer run than that. Look what you made me do. God, woman."

"It was an amazing start." Pepper giggled, propping herself up on an elbow to stare down at him. Her ocean blue eyes were glinting mischievously as they raked over his body causing Tony's heart rate to spike. "Well, since you made me see stars I think it's time to repay the favor. You ready to receive your birthday spanking?"

Tony's mouth went dry. Yep. Heart failure. He was in heart failure. Pepper was staring down at him like he was a piece of meat and she wanted to devour him. It was so fucking hot. Desire spiraled down to collect in his lower regions. Jesus. Maybe he didn't need any recovery time.

"What are you waiting for, birthday boy? Roll over." When he didn't immediately obey her command, she took matters into her own hands and rolled him herself before climbing onto his back to straddle him, pinning him to the bed. "Is this okay? I'm not hurting you am I?" There was concern in her tone.

Ah yes. Not long ago, he had been hit by a car. He had honestly forgotten all about his bruised abdomen until she brought it up. He was pretty sure the woman on top of him could make him forget about a lost limb. "Nope. Not hurting me at all. This is definitely okay. Trust me. This is more than okay." He sucked in a breath when Pepper's hands grabbed his butt and gave it a tight squeeze.

"Do you have any idea how long I've wanted to do that? I love your ass, Mr. Stark." Her delicate hands massaging his glutes drew a groan from deep within him. He sunk into the pillows as she worked her magic with her fingers. God. She really loved his ass that much?

Suddenly, the ministrations stopped, and he could feel her hot breath on the crack of his ass as she bent over him, feel the wetness of his juices and her own on his back where her hot core was pressed against him. Fuck. Fuck. Holy fuck. He gripped a pillow tightly in his hands to try and anchor himself to something when all he wanted to do was grab her, pin her down and bury his face in her pussy.

"Especially when you wear those jeans that cling to your curves. God. Your ass is delicious. It's a delicacy I've been dying to try." And then he felt her teeth embed in his right cheek before he felt the wetness of her tongue as she licked where she had bitten.

Like a bucking bronco, he came off the bed, almost throwing her to the floor in the process. "Fuck, Pepper! Fuuuuuck!" Jesus, Mary, Joseph and all the saints. This woman. What was she doing to him? In the end, it didn't matter. She could do whatever she wanted to him and he would love every fucking second of it. She owned him: body, heart and soul. He wondered if she knew that.

She re-situated herself back into her earlier position. "Calm down, Mr. Stark. I have barely begun." And then she nipped at his other cheek before soothing it with her tongue.

Desire shot through him, and he pushed his head into the pillows to try and cover his loud groan. It was like putting a silencer on a gun. It made it a bit quieter but it really didn't work.

"Are you ready to receive your spanking now?"

Tony could only nod weakly because he could feel her nose nuzzling his rear, and he thought if he tried to speak, he would only squeak.

"I'm going to need a yes or no answer."

"Y-yes." His answer was more of a yelp than anything else because she was toying with him with her tongue.

He felt her chuckle before she squeezed his ass again. "Please respond with, yes, Miss Potts."

"Yes, Miss Potts," he repeated. It took a hell of a lot of concentration to say those words and not become a stuttering mess. This entire situation he was in was shocking the hell out of him but in a good way. In his wildest fantasies, he could not have imagined Pepper doing this to him but here he was about to receive a spanking from his PA...no wait, his CEO. The CEO of Stark Industries owned his ass. Literally. Okay, it was official. Pepper Potts was a lady in the streets but a freak in the sheets. She was the absolute perfect woman.

"I won't give you the full spanking until I know you can handle it. If you want me to stop at any time, just tell me. How about we start with five and see how you are? I want you to count out loud for me."

"Yes, Miss Potts." When he felt her hand pop his ass, he yelped more in shock than pain. It smarted a little but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. He almost forgot to count. "One." The second smack was a bit harder, and it was then he realized he was hard too. "Two." The third slap rang in his ears. He wiggled helplessly against the sheets, trying to gain some much needed friction to release some of his growing arousal. "Three." His cock was throbbing now. He was sure at this point he had no blood left in his head. Fuck. He was suppose to be counting. What number was he on again? He was worse than a preschooler. He couldn't even count to five.

"You still with me, Stark?" Pepper purred into his ear. She had turned around and had taken to nuzzling him in one of his most sensitive areas. The ears. Dear Lord. Not the ears."Did you lose count?"

"Y-yes, Miss Potts. I mean, n-no, Miss Potts. I mean I'm still with you but I didn't lose count." He suddenly remembered where he had left off. "Four, Miss Potts. Four! It's just you doing that is making me...it's making me. God, Potts." He ground his hips into the bed to show her what he meant. "It's hard not to flip you over and fuck you into the mattress."

His actions made her laugh. He was frustrated, and clearly she knew it. He honestly didn't know how much more of this he could take. It felt like he was wound so tightly he would explode into fragments. Telling her he was done was on the tip of his tongue until felt her hand slide underneath him to grip his pulsing cock. He gasped and shuddered as she stroked him lazily. The pressure of her hand and his own body against his dick made him moan. "So I take it your birthday spanking is to your liking?" When her hand fell on his ass the final time, the pleasure that coursed through him almost made him blackout. Christ on a cracker.

"Five!" He shouted as he came into the sheets.


	13. Chapter 13

"Tony?" The man beneath her continued not to acknowledge her presence as he breathed heavily. It was all he had been doing for several long minutes. Pepper leaned over him to one side, trying to catch a glimpse of his face to gauge how he was feeling but it was buried deep into pillows. How he could even breathe was a mystery to her. "Tony, are you okay?" God, what if she really had hurt him? Maybe she had gone a tad bit overboard with the birthday spanking but having Tony Stark finally naked in bed with her, she can honestly say she had lost her mind for awhile. Guess that was what happened when people allowed the sexual tension to build and build over the years without any release between them along the way.

Normally she wasn't so outgoing in bed especially during her first time with someone, but when she had laid eyes on Tony's ass, Tony's absolutely delectable and delicious ass, and it was right there in front of her for her to reach out and touch, it was all over. Any self control she may have had flew right out the window. Had she really gone and bitten him on that perfect ass of his? Yes, yes she sure had. She blushed at the thought. She was sure she was red from her head down to her toes. Later on when Tony got to thinking about it he would probably come up with some kind of joke, like thanking her for thoroughly chewing his ass out. Oh God. Her blush deepened another shade or two. "I didn't hurt you did I, Tony?"

He finally mumbled what was likely an answer to her question into the feathers but Pepper hadn't the slightest idea what he said. Looks like she was going to have to take matters into her own hands. She pushed herself off of his back, settling down on her side next to him on the mattress. Taking the initiative, she slid her hand under his chin and turned his head to the side, exposing half of his face to her. From the expression on his features, he was more than just okay. His eyes were closed and there was a pleasant smile playing at his lips. His cheeks were flushed, and thanks to her hands, his hair was an absolute mess. It made him look even more adorable, if that was even possible.

"Mmmmm, Pep."

Having confirmed that Tony wasn't in any pain because of her outgoing streak in between the sheets, Pepper felt herself relax. "Yes, Tony?" One of her hands found its way into his thick hair again as she tried to stroke it back into place. Now that she was finally allowed to touch him intimately, it was going to be next to impossible to keep her hands off of him in public. His hair had always been perfect. Soft and silky and just begging for fingers to be run through it. She was pretty sure if she was sitting next to him in a meeting she would have to actually physically restrain herself by sitting on her hands to stop herself from touching him.

One of his chocolate brown eyes opened and locked on her. "I wish my birthday came more than once a year."

Pepper chuckled. "You know, it doesn't have to be your birthday for us to do this."

Tony let out an over-exaggerated sigh of relief. "Thank God because I don't think I can wait more than a few days without some of that. God, Potts. Why didn't you put this on your resume? Your skills in the sack are something to be bragged about." He turned up his smile by a hundred percent, his nose wrinkling and corners of his eyes crinkling in the cute way that they do when he's truly happy.

Pepper playfully rolled her eyes at him. "You big goof," she sputtered out a laugh, ruffling his hair lovingly before pressing a kiss to his forehead. When her lips touched the butterfly sutures on his skin, it reminded her that he had just been hit by a car, bringing back all of the worry she had for him by ten-fold. He really hadn't given her a chance to examine him, and it didn't help there wasn't a lot of light in the room to see the extent of his injuries. Now that both of their libidos were in check, at least for the moment, she wanted to make sure he was okay for herself. "Roll onto your back."

Without asking her for an explanation, Tony obeyed, groaning a little as he turned over. She was a little shocked he didn't question her motives but then again, she had just supposedly given him one of the best orgasms he ever had in his life.

"Lights up, Jarvis."

Now that, Tony did not like. "Why'd you do that?" he asked, propping himself up on an elbow as he squinted his eyes at her, trying to adjust to the over abundance of light now filling the room.

"Lie back down," Pepper ordered, pushing him gently back into the mattress. "You can keep your eyes closed if you want but lie down and stay still."

It was obvious Tony didn't know what Pepper had planned but he didn't argue as she sat up and leaned down over him. The first thing to check off on her things to examine was the arc reactor. Ever since learning he had been dying, being poisoned by the very thing that was supposed to keep him alive, she had been on edge and full of worry. Her hand hovered over top of the reactor, noticing the design was different than it had been when she had helped him replace it. It now had the shape of a triangle and was actually quite elegant. The same familiar blue light emanated from it onto her skin as her eyes slowly moved over the area around it. The lesions were almost completely gone now. But that didn't take away from the fact that Tony had lost some weight. He was also paler than he normally was and it upset her she hadn't picked up on it right away.

She should have known he was sick even before he told her. All of the signs were there. His strange behavior, his ghostly pale skin, the fact that she honestly couldn't remember the last time she had seen him eat solid food, but she was too wrapped up in other things to allow herself to notice. If anything would have happened to him, she would never have been able to forgive herself. She bent over him, placing a quick kiss to the arc before lying a hand over top of it. But he was okay now. Everything was going to be fine. He told her he wasn't dying anymore, and she believed him.

As her focus drew upward, she felt Tony's hand move to cover hers that was still on his chest plate and give her a reassuring squeeze. He must have known that she was worrying about him. She was going to remove her hand until Tony began to stroke her gently with his thumb and the pleasant jolt of electricity that shot through her body made her leave it.

Next on her agenda of inspection was his face. She smoothed his hair back in a loving caress as her eyes moved over his forehead. The wound he had applied the bandage to was a little nasty. It had probably bled a lot. Hopefully it wouldn't scar. Maybe she could get him to go to the hospital to get stitches by giving him a reward if he does. Thinking about all of the things she could offer him, she smirked. Her gaze swept more quickly over the scratches and abrasions on his cheeks, lingering longer on the lump under his swelling eye.

When her eyes wandered down past the reactor to his abdomen, she sucked in a deep breath. The bruising was much worse in the light. Maybe it was all in her head, but she could almost make out the shape of the bumper of the car in the definition of his abs. Hell, if she looked hard enough, maybe she could even read the license plate number. At least the rest of him seemed relatively unscathed.

It would always be like this with him, wouldn't it? He would get himself injured and claim he was okay, refusing to get medical attention while she worried herself out of her mind about him. But she had lied on the roof when she said she would quit. She could never actually leave him. It didn't matter if she was with him or not. She would still worry about him all the same.

Coming to this sudden realization, she sighed loudly, settling back down next to Tony as he turned to face her. Part of her wanted to scold him once again for trying to hide his injuries from her, but when his defined arms snaked around her and he pulled her close to tuck her head underneath his chin, she found she didn't have the heart to yell at him. "Lights back down, Jarvis," she mumbled.

"Finish your inspection there, Nurse Potts? Did I pass?"

Pepper grumbled grumpily into his collarbone before biting at him. "You are lucky I'm not dragging your ass to the hospital, Staaaaaark." His last name came out as more of a yelp because Tony's amazingly talented fingers had squeezed between their bodies to tweak one of her nipples, rolling it between his thumb and pointer. All of the frustration she was feeling with him was quickly melting away under Tony's caresses, unable to control her own body as she arched into him. "Tony. God."

"Pepper. Goddess," he purred in response.

Any smart remark Pepper might have said in response was lost as his deft fingers worked their magic on her body. He knew exactly what to do to turn her on. "You do know I have to actually get up and accomplish something today, right?"

"Why's that?" When the stubble on Tony's face tickled the skin of her neck, she sucked in a breath. She shivered in pleasure as she wiggled against him, trying desperately to remember what she had asked him in the first place. "Wouldn't you much rather stay in bed with me?" His voice was a low sexy rumble.

Yes! Pepper practically screamed in her head as Tony's hand moved from her breast and went lower. It wouldn't be much longer before she lost her train of thought completely so she had to hurry up and get her words out. "You made me CEO, remember? I have a job to do," she said, and then Tony's mouth was on her ear, sucking and biting, the golden stud in her ear lobe clicking against his teeth, and she immediately regretted she suggested the notion of doing anything other than staying in bed with Tony for the unseeable future.

"I thought you were going to quit."

Pepper hummed as Tony nibbled lightly at her jawline, her heart fluttering when she felt a touch of his tongue against her skin as he tasted her. "I don't think I will. I rather like the perks of this job."

"And what perks would those be?" Tony pulled back slightly, and in the light the reactor threw onto his face, she could see this was one of the rare moments where he had completely dropped his guard. She could hurt him with her next words but she never would.

"You," she simply said, watching as his eyes darkened with lust before capturing his lips in a searing kiss, demanding his mouth open to hers. She didn't pull back until they were both breathless. It was only then she continued on her journey of his body. She pressed wet open-mouthed kisses down his neck to his chest, being extra careful when she finally reached his injury. When she noticed he was ready for her again, she gave him a few slow strokes before meeting his eyes. "You just lie back and let me do all the work, Mr. Stark."

"As usual," Tony groaned as she finally climbed on top to straddle him.

His words earned a grin from Pepper. "You said it. I didn't." When she slid down onto him, his full length filling her to the brim, her eyes locked with his as those talented hands of his moved to gently hold her hips, anchoring her to him. The intensity of his gaze was like nothing else. It felt like he could start her on fire simply by looking at her. Would it always be like this between them? She sure as hell hoped so.

She rode him lazily for awhile, savoring the way it seemed as if he was staring into her very soul. As his hips rolled up to meet hers, the pleasure inside her built to almost unimaginable levels. This man. This freaking brilliant, attractive, smart-assed man. God did she love him.

She could feel herself getting close to her own release again and that was when Tony wrapped his arms around her back, pulling her down to him so he could latch onto one of her breasts, his tongue swirling around her nipple as he lapped at it hungrily. Her eyes rolled back into her head as the world around her shattered into a million pieces. Or maybe it was all finally coming together. She didn't know. The only thing she did know for sure was that she was madly in love with Tony Stark. Nothing else mattered.


	14. Chapter 14

A soft groan escaped Pepper's lips as she rolled over, seeking the heat she was missing from Tony's warm body. After they had finished making love, they had fallen asleep curled up in each other's arms. It was a pleasant surprise to find that Tony Stark, the man who was always out of bed and gone before his lover woke up in the morning, was a big cuddler. After she had gone to the bathroom, she had expected to fall asleep next to Tony. What she hadn't planned for was for him to wrap himself around her body like a scarf, pulling her flush against his chest, using her as a stand in for a giant teddy bear.

Pepper couldn't remember another time in her life when she had been this happy. If she was being completely honest with herself, it had been years since she felt even a smidgen of what she was feeling right now. Being with Tony just felt right, and she had fallen asleep listening to the steady strong beat of his heart, one arm draped over his body, the other resting protectively over the arc reactor, it's blue light shining between her fingers was the perfect nightlight.

No longer feeling him close, her hands instinctively reached out for him, blinding searching for the man who had been sharing the bed with her. When they came up empty, the smile on her face disappeared. Her eyes flew open as she shot straight up. The covers on Tony's side of the bed were thrown back as if he had left in a hurry, the spot he should have been occupying was empty and cold signaling he had been gone for quite some time.

"Tony?" she called out tentatively at first, wrapping a thin sheet around her naked body as she pushed herself off the bed. There was no answer. It was quiet. Far too quiet. She shouted his name louder the second time but the penthouse was silent except for her own pulse pounding wildly in her ears as she moved through the room. Where could he have gone? "Jarvis, where did Tony go?"

"I am currently unaware of Mr. Stark's exact location," the AI admitted.

She stopped at the bedroom door, leaning against the doorjamb for support. A chill ran down her spine as goosebumps formed on her skin. Her entire body was now trembling. Why was she trembling? Her heart was racing in her chest. "How long ago did he leave?"

"Right after you fell asleep, Miss Potts."

And then she knew. She knew why her entire body was shaking like she was coming apart. Her body had come to the realization before her mind had. Oh God. Oh my God. The famous Pepper Potts was now a notch on the bedpost of the great Tony Stark. Suddenly feeling lightheaded, she stumbled back toward the bed, her legs threatening to give out beneath her.

As it grew more and more difficult to catch her breath, she was forced to plop her butt back down on the mattress or risk collapsing to the floor. She stuck her head down between her knees, trying but failing to draw in the deep breaths her lungs so desperately craved. It had happened. It had actually happened. She had become the trash that had to be taken out, only now she was expected to put herself on the curb. How could she have been so stupid?

"Miss Potts, I am detecting that you are in distress. Do you need medical attention?"

It was true. She was currently in a hell of a lot of distress. In fact, she was sure her heart was seconds away from bursting out of her chest but even so, there was nothing doctors could do to fix a broken heart. She would just have to suffer through it like a normal person. "No, Jarvis," she forced out as the stinging behind her eyes became too much for her to handle and a few tears streaked down her cheeks. She wiped them away hastily with the back of a hand. "I'll be okay."

But would she? Would she be okay ever again? That may have been the biggest lie she had ever told in her entire life. The only man she had ever really loved had left her after she had admitted to him that she loved him. Oh who was she kidding? She would never be okay. She would never be okay ever again. There was no one on the planet she wanted more than Tony. Nobody she loved the way she loved him. The fact that he didn't want her like she wanted him destroyed her. A wail of despair broke out of her chest, filling the room before she buried her face into her hands, finally falling apart into a sobbing mess.

She honestly had no idea how long she sat on the edge of the bed, bawling miserably into her hands. It may have been minutes. It may have been hours. It wasn't until she felt warm hands wrap around her forearms to pull her hands away from her face that she noticed she was no longer alone in the room.

Tony was dressed and kneeling in front of her. He had wedged himself in between her knees and reached up to cup her face. His big brown eyes were wide as his eyes searched her face. He was scared for her. "Pep! Oh God, honey. What's wrong?" He pushed her disheveled hair back from her face, and she shivered violently as she turned toward his hand, seeking his touch.

Tony. It was Tony. He hadn't left her.

"Are you hurt?" Tony's eyebrows were drawn together in confusion as he studied her expression for several long seconds until all of a sudden it dawned on him what she had to have been thinking because his eyebrows shot up into his hairline and his mouth gaped in shock. He was off the floor in a beat and sitting down on the mattress next to her before she could speak, gathering her into his arms. "Oh God, no, Pep. No. I would never do that to you, baby. Never." His arms tightened protectively around her, and she snuggled further into his embrace. "I had a meeting with Fury and didn't want to wake you up. You actually thought I left? That I would do something like that to you?"

Having him in front of her like this pouring his heart out made her feel extremely embarrassed for automatically assuming the worst case scenario. He was different now. He was no longer the man who would do something like that. How could she have possibly thought that he would abandon her? Her hands were fisted tightly into his shirt, pulling him closer as if trying to silently apologize to him for thinking something so terrible about him. "I'm sorry, Tony."

"God, you must think I'm a total bastard."

That made her push back from his embrace to grip his face between her hands. Seeing the hurt on his face because of something she did was like a knife to her chest. He had to know she didn't think that way about him. It was her own insecurities coming to the surfaces. "No, Tony. My assumption is not a reflection of you. It's-it's me. I just..." She stopped for a moment, trying to gather her thoughts. Her hands dropped to her lap, and she gently shook her head. "I just don't understand."

Tony leaned forward, cocking his head to the side. The expression on his face was so innocent, she wanted to kiss him right then and there. "What don't you understand?"

Pepper swallowed her fear and pushed on. "Why you'd want me when you could basically have any girl you wanted. You've been with super models and actresses. Hell, I've seen them. I was the one kicking them to the curb the next morning. Compared to them, I'm just mediocre. You are a ten. I'm maybe a five...a six on a good day."

Tony actually snorted a laugh at that, shaking his own head in disbelief. "That is so far from true, Pepper. You are absolutely stunning. I may have been drunk at my party but I meant what I said when I called you out-of-control gorgeous. I think you are the most beautiful woman on the planet. Nobody is as sexy as you even me."

His statement made her blush as red as her hair. "Tony..." In her embarrassment, she tried to turn away but he forced her to look at him.

"Pep, you aren't just another girl to me. You are the girl, the only girl." He took her shaking hand in his steady one and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. "I told Fury today that we were in a stablish relationship."

Pepper raised her brows at his admission. "Stablish?" She did not like the way that sounded. What did that mean?

Tony ruffled the back of his hair nervously before drumming his fingers on the reactor, refusing to meet her eyes. "Well, honestly I didn't know exactly what our relationship was now so I didn't know how to quantify it. We hadn't really discussed it. Have we? I mean, I want you, Pepper. I want to be with you and only you. I want to go to sleep with you and wake up with you every morning. I'm all the way into this but I just didn't know what you wanted. I mean, if you want something else that's fine but I'm saying that..."

He was rambling now so Pepper shut him up the best way she knew how with her mouth over his, kissing him until she could feel his nervousness melt away. It was hard to remove her lips from his. She could kiss him all damn day. He tasted like mint and something special that was specifically Tony himself. It was addictive. She forced herself to pull away and pressed her forehead against his, settling for running the back of her hand over his goatee.

"Tony, isn't it obvious? I want you too. There isn't anyone else for me. I've wasted enough of my life pretending I wasn't madly in love with you. I don't want to waste anymore time. I'm done with the games."

"Madly in love, eh?" Tony waggled his brows at her. "I mean not that I can blame you. I'm a great catch."

"Don't push it, Mr. Stark," Pepper said giving him a playful shove. The predatory grin he gave her made a shiver of anticipation run down her spine. They had made love numerous times but she still wanted more. She wanted more now.

"That mean we are officially together, Miss Potts?" Tony asked as he pushed her back down into the bed.

Biting her bottom lip playfully, Pepper looked up at him and gave him an assertive nod. "Sure does. Tony Stark is now officially off the market. He is now property of Stark Industries CEO, Virginia Potts."

Tony's eyes were shining with what Pepper knew now was love. "Maybe you'll find this hard to believe, but you've owned me for a long time now."

The sincerity of his words made her shiver. "I believe it." Pepper's eyes closed as Tony leaned down, beginning to kiss her neck. She turned her head to the side to give him better access. "We just have to figure out how to maneuver our relationship into the public eye. I'm betting the spin will be that you made me CEO because I let you sleep with me."

Tony hummed against her skin. "How about I take you out onto the balcony right now, bend you over and go to town on you? You know the paparazzi would just love that."

Pepper pulled back from him, squeaking out a shocked, "Tony!"

He gave her an apologetic smile. "Okay, okay, Pep. I'm just kidding. We'll figure it out."

"Together?" Pepper held his gaze.

He nodded. "Together," he said with a smile


End file.
